Following Monday's Bay Area Media Day, head football coach Jeff Tedford along with All-American wide receiver Keenan Allen spoke to the large crowd inside the Hotel Nikko ball room in San Francisco for the Bay Area College Football Kickoff Luncheon.
Tedford was interviewed by KNBR's Brian Murphy, while Allen answered questions from Todd McKim, who serves on the Cal football broadcast team.
Representatives from Cal, Stanford and San Jose State traveled to the Hotel Nikko in downtown San Francisco on Monday for Bay Area Media Day. CalBears.com and the Creative Services Department give you this unique view of Bay Area Media Day with this behind-the-scenes tour of Monday's event thanks to Keenan Allen and Josh Hill.
Here is a look at the 2012 Cal football preview video that was shown to the crowd at the Bay Area Football Preview Luncheon inside the Hotel Nikko in downtown San Francisco this afternoon.
Former Cal All-American Alex Morgan and current Golden Bear standout Betsy Hassett kicked off competition in the 2012 Olympic Games today. You can click here for a full recap on each individuals' performance from today.
In case you missed Morgan's two-goals in the United States' 4-2 victory over France, you can see all the highlights of the former Golden Bear star's two scores here from NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games in London.
For all the action involving current and former Cal student-athletes, coaches and staff at the Olympic games be sure to closely follow Director of Olympic Sports for Cal Athletics Jenny Simon-O'Neill's blog Jenny's Journey and her Twitter handle @BearsInLondon.
We were on hand inside California Memorial Stadium this morning as the first sections of the state-of-the-art Matrix synthetic turf were installed. Here is video from the field of the first 15-foot wide section which will be the 40-45 yard line being laid into place at 9:32 a.m. this morning. You can hear workers cheer in the background during this monumental event in the project.
The second section (30-35 yard line) was laid into place at 10:16 a.m. (PT) this morning. Here is video from up top of the stadium of this piece being unraveled into place.
You can read more about the new state-of-the-art Matrix synthetic turf here.
Multimedia Manager Tsubasa Onozaki of Cal's Creative Services department is on hand at Pac-12 Media Day yesterday and today in Los Angeles and has provided a great behind-the-scenes view as Keenan Allen and Josh Hill enjoy their activities surrounding the conference's high-profile event.
Keenan Allen interviews Josh Hill in the car on the way to Oakland International Airport Monday evening.
Keenan Allen provides commentary during Monday night's bowling event in Los Angeles
Josh Hill talks to Fox College Football during today's PAC-12 Media Day.
Keenan Allen opens up before going on stage today for his session with the more than 300 media members in attendance.
You can watch Pac-12 Football Media Day live on the conference's YouTube Channel. Cal head coach Jeff Tedford, wide receiver Keenan Allen and defensive back Josh Hill will appear at 12:05 (PT) right here.
With the Olympics a week away from getting underway, we are certainly in the Olympic spirit here at Cal. There will be several Golden Bears representing Cal in the rowing events in London.
The last time the Olympics were in London in 1948, a number of Cal rowers captured the Gold medal. Here is a great video recapping the 1948 games.
Former Cal basketball standout Ryan Anderson will call a new team home this coming season. Anderson, who had the best year of his NBA career with the Orlando Magic this past season, was acquired by the New Orleans Hornets today in exchange for forward/center Gustavo Ayón.
Anderson averaged career-highs of 16.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and shot 39 percent from three-point range in 61 games this past season (all starts) en route to being named the NBA's Comeback Player of the Year. He was just the second power forward in NBA history to lead the league in three-pointers made.
The former Golden Bear was the 21st overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft after two standout seasons here at Cal.
We caught up with Anderson when he was back in the Bay Area to face the Golden State Warriors during the season. Here is our interview with former Cal star.
The California Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has welcomed Paul Savage to the staff as the Director of Student-Athlete Affairs. He takes over for Allie Rowe and will oversee the student services center for the department.
To learn more about Savage and his vision for the department, watch the following video and read the Q&A with Cal's new Director of Student-Affairs below.
When did you start your student-services career? I started my student-services role at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business as a career coach for three and a half years. From there, I followed a life-long dream to live in Northern California. I became a career coach at the University of California working with undergrads in the Haas School of Business. It was an exciting change in populations from MBA students to undergraduate business candidates. I spent nearly six years working with employers on their strategy to access undergraduate talent and on programming and counseling to prepare the 750 Haas undergrads for annual recruitment.
What was it about this position that got you excited to transition to Intercollegiate Athletics? The biggest thing was the challenge of meeting the student services needs of the unique and gifted population of student-athletes - whose majors are more diverse and whose life experiences are impacted by the complexity of what amounts to two full-time jobs in terms of their academics and athletics responsibilities.
What excites you about working for the University of California? The culture. Having attended the University of Michigan, a large academic public university about the same size as the University of California, I am loyal to the culture and appreciate it. When I was attending graduate school, I made a decision to pursue counseling through a psychology program and I had to select a population to train. When I did my first internship at Loyola University in Chicago, part of my responsibilities was to work with the basketball program. That was my first experience with student-athletes. What I realized is that across cultures and across age groups, students were more likely to ask for help when it came to their career then they were for personal issues. One of the additional challenges of this job was to look out for the development of our students professionally and personally throughout their college experience. Those two things have come together in this position for me. I was a gymnast for 10 years and had to redirect my Olympic dream when I grew above 6ft in 11th grade and no longer fit the equipment. I intend to provide expertise to student-athletes who will in some way be challenged to manage that experience. Having been there helps me to be more sensitive, more approachable and more individually understanding of the transition personally and professionally. There is, of course, a bright side of most challenges as in sport. There are myriad life skills and attributes that will pay off in the professional world for those that are transitioning out of an athletic career that I am excited about helping illuminate - to provide opportunities for Cal athletes to first understand their strengths and then market themselves in the real world.
What are the challenges of a student-athlete here at the University of California and how do you plan to assist with these challenges? There is certainly a great expectation of a student-athlete here at the University of California. This population is originating from a lot of different places into one brand called Cal. What that means for student-athletes is there are additional challenges down that road. It starts with their strict schedules. Their lifestyle often looks more like what a college graduate might experience in terms of rigor, time management, responsibility and communication with strong professional skills that translate well. I think the first thing is recognizing and being sensitive to their daily experience as a young adult. Because of demands, it does not give them easy access to the rest of the international and multicultural community here in the same way that it does for a student that doesn't have these responsibilities. Part of my charge is to connect them or be the liaison to facilitate access to the kinds of experiences that are important for them that they don't have the time to sort out on their own so that it rounds out their college investment. My goal is satisfaction when they leave here. I want them to look back and say this was a balanced and enriching experience. I want them to be confident to position those things for their own personal life and their professional growth going forward.
How does the opening of the new Simpson Center for Student-Athlete High Performance help with your goals and objectives? Clearly there is higher visibility in terms of generating interest from alumni, the Cal community, the Bay area, and from sports fans in general. It also instills an additional sense of pride. Think about the visual cues that you get from your facilities that remind you that you are supported, that you are comfortable and that you feel at home. We are really building a new home for them here. That is uniquely challenging because we are spread throughout the campus, but the idea is to integrate this new facility into that sense of home and give them confidence that they have the best professionals available to support their athletic success, academic standards and personal development.
What are your main goals in your first year as you transition into this position? I think it is really important to go back to the core principles of the student affairs division of athletics which are personal development, career preparation and community outreach. These three prongs are designed to give them a balanced experience. For each individual, investment in any one area may be more important than in others so we provide all three in order to express a range which is parallel to the types of experiences that are going to help mature them into confident and productive adults and more prepared to go out into the real world and carry the pride of Cal with them throughout the rest of their lives.
When you first started in this field, is this where you wanted/expected to be? Not exactly. Peter Ueberroth was an early influence on my career. He wrote a wonderful book after the 1984 Olympics on how a successful baseball commissioner was the first person to organize a profitable Olympic games. Marketing was my first love and his integrated marketing approach through sponsorship is the event standard today. The complexity of integrating corporate goals with goals at sporting events is unique and after working for years in marketing, some of the psychological concepts are similar in that you are serving people while influencing decisions. What better place to do that than in an academic institution like the University of California where you are working with the finest and brightest talent and you are meeting them at a time when they are leaving home and you have the added responsibility of helping them transition into the responsibilities of adulthood. I feel that is ultimately my calling, what I am good at.
What excites you about this new role? Change always excites me. One of the hallmarks of what I bring from my experience at the Haas School of Business is innovation. I am always seeking improvement. As generations change, as the profile of our students entering college changes, as the economy changes, and as social trends change, I really get excited about finding new ways and more efficient ways to deliver service and empower students to be prepared for success in their lives. Most of what I impart is confidence. The ability to instill confidence is not always tangible. It is at the center of a person's buy-in and ultimately their feeling of success in the world. It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of empowering people to move forward in their lives.
Cal alums and Olympians Natalie Coughlin and Heather Petri will answer your questions today through the United States Olympic Committee's website. You can log onto their website here from 12-1 (PT) to ask Coughlin questions and come back from 1-2 (PT) to interact with Petri through Twitter.
The preseason honors continue to pile up for Cal's standout wide receiver and Heisman Trophy candidate Keenan Allen. Athlon Sports named Allen a Second Team All-American on Monday.
The lone wide receivers ranked ahead of him in the nation were Clemson's Sammy Watkins and USC's Robert Woods.
Allen was also named a First Team All-Pac-12 selection along with Woods at the wide receiver position. Running back Isi Sofele (second team), offensive lineman Matt Summers-Gavin (second team), defensive lineman Deandre Coleman (third team) and linebacker Chris McCain (third team) joined Allen among the Golden Bears' contingent on the publication's all-conference squad.
It is interesting to compare Allen and Woods based on each of their 2011 individual seasons. Woods had 13 more catches (111-98), while Allen had more receiving yards (1,343-1,292). Woods found the end zone more, hauling in 15 touchdowns to Allen's six. Allen's season-long reception went for eight more yards more than Woods' (90-82), while overall, Woods averaged 107.7 receiving yards per game to Allen's 103.3 receiving yards per contest.
What does this mean... that these are two of the best receivers in college football and it will be exciting to watch them match up on Sept. 22 when the Bears and Trojans meet at the Coliseum in L.A.
In the meantime, let the preseason honors continue to roll in for Allen and the Bears.
Men's basketball coach Mike Montgomery appeared on 95.7 The Game earlier today to discuss his contract extension with the Golden Bears and his impressions of Jorge Gutierrez as a professional player, among other things.
You can click here to listen to a podcast of Montgomery's appearance on "The Wheelhouse" with Mychael Urban and Brodie Brazil earlier today.
Former Golden Bear standout Natalie Coughlin, an 11-time Olympic medalist, was featured in a new ESPN SportsCenter commerical that just made it's debut. Coughlin will be one of nine current and former Cal swimmers that will compete in the 2012 Olympic games in London later this month.
The video gaming giant Electronic Arts recently released a number of screenshots of its popular college football game. The latest version, College Football 2013, is scheduled for release tomorrow. Here is a sneak peak at some screenshots of Cal playing Stanford in the game.
With 56 days left until the Golden Bears kickoff against Nevada, the college football previews continue to hit the stands and the websites each day. The Sporting News' Rana L. Cash recently discussed Cal's season with preseason All-American wide receiver Keenan Allen and why he is a legitimate Heisman candidate for 2012.
You can click here to read the full story on the Golden Bear standout.
Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour was up the hill touring California Memorial Stadium this afternoon and tweeted these photos. The facility continues to take shape with the new concession stands and expansive press box and club level in place.
While we haven't even played the 2012 season, leave it to the blogosphere to predict the future. Yesterday, we looked at what Phil Steele sees for Cal's postseason in football and today we look at Justin Higdon's AFC2NFC NFL blog looking at the draft eligible Golden Bears.
Higdon sees junior preseason All-American wide receiver and Heisman candidate Keenan Allen as a star in the draft saying "Allen is a good enough player to enter into first round discussion early on."
Higdon goes on to say "Allen's combination of size and speed make him a superior prospect to draft. He runs well after the catch and finishes his runs. He can snatch the ball out of the air and make tough catches amid contact."
The AFC2NFC blog is also high on running back Isi Sofele and quarterback Zach Maynard. Sofele will be a senior this fall, while Maynard is entering his junior season of eligibility.
Higdon calls Sofele a "workhorse" and a "quick runner who takes short, choppy steps and who changes directions pretty well."
He lists Maynard as a "good athlete" pointing to his standout game against a nationally-ranked Stanford team. Higdon goes on to state that "Maynard's connection to the talented Allen is crucial to the team's success."
You can read the complete AFC2NFC blog previewing Cal's 2013 NFL draft here.
With the very sad news of Ann Curtis Cuneo's passing last week at the age of 86, we look back on her storied swimming career as a Golden Bear and beyond.
The San Francisco native began swimming at nine years old and the sport played a huge role throughout her life.
Cuneo, who graduated Cal in 1948, is one of the Golden Bears' best swimmers of all-time. She totaled 34 National AAU Championships and was the recipient of the Sullivan Award, honoring the nation's top collegiate athlete in 1948.
Cuneo went on to win two gold medals and one silver medal as a freestyle swimmer at the 1948 London Olympics (the last time the games were held in London). t that time there were only five Olympic swimming events for women and participants were limited to swimming only three events. Cuneo set two world records, in the 880 yard and 440 yard freestyle events.
It was at Cal where she met her husband, Gordon Cuneo, in 1949.
Honored as the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, she was also the cover girl on the front of Colliers, Newsweek and several other national magazines in 1948. She was later inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer in 1966 and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.
Inducted into the California Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979, Cuneo remained involved in the sport of swimming following her competitive career. She founded the Ann Curtis School of Swimming in San Rafael in 1959.
As you watch the Olympics later this month in London, I hope you remember who represented the Golden Bears the last time the games were in the city. In the meantime, read this great feature on the swimming legend in today's Marin Independent Journal. You can also view her full obituary here.
The San Francisco Chronicle's Scott Ostler recently caught up with three generations of U.S. Olympic coxswains, Kent Mitchell (1960 bronze medal in men's coxed pairs; 1964 gold medal), Pete Cipollone (2004 gold in men's eight) and Zach Vlahos (cox for this year's men's eight). His story Steering toward gold is a coxswain's fine art is published in today's paper.
Vlahos, the former Golden Bear NCAA Champion, talked in-depth about what it takes to become a coxsain and what all goes into the role on the boat.
Former Cal football player Tony Smith, who was named the of the Oakland Unified School District in 2009, is featured in today's Contra Costa Times for "helping to mobilize a fractured system under the constant threat of education funding cutbacks" as the publication described.
Smith was a four-year letterwinner at Cal from 1986-89. The offensive lineman was a team captain and earned honorable mention all-conference honors as a senior. Smith received his B.A. in English from Cal in 1992, before going on to add Master's and Doctorate Degrees in Division of Language and Literacy from Cal's Graduate School of Education in 1993 and 2002, respectively.
Click here to read the full story on Smith in this morning's paper.
While we are in the middle of summer, football season is right around the corner. The college football preview magazines have either hit news stands and websites or will do so later this month.
One such publication released its bowl projections for the 2012 season today. Phil Steele weighed in on how he saw college football's postseason shaping up this fall. The publication projects Cal to play Navy in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Dec. 29 at 12;15 p.m. (PT). The Bears have played their once before, defeating Miami, 24-17, in 2008 when it was titled the Emerald Bowl.
You can click here to view the complete list of Phil Steele's college football bowl projections.
Former Cal standouts and current members of the United States Women's Water Polo Olympic team Elsie Windes and Heather Petri helped guide USA to a 17-8 victory over Hungary in an exhibition at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center last night.
Playing in front a packed house of 3,042 at Stanford, Windes and Petri each scored a goal for the United States in its double-digit victory over Hungary. Windes connected on a shot from in close to put the U.S. up 14-6 early in the fourth quarter and Petri followed later in the period with a lob from outside to extend the Americans' advantage.
You can click here for a complete recap of last night's match.
The United States and Hungary will play three more exhibition contests before the two teams head to London for the Olympics at the end of the month. Their next game will be tomorrow (July 4) in Los Alamitos at 7 p.m. They will then face off in San Diego on July 6 and in Newport Beach on July 8.
Former Golden Bear women's water polo standouts Elsie Windes and Heather Petri will be in action for the United States Women's Water Polo Olympic team tonight over at Stanford as USA takes on Hungary in an exhibition match.
The "Lunging 2 London" event will begin at 6 p.m. (PT) at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. Tonight's contest is the first in a five-game exhibition series between the two nations leading into the 2012 Olympic Games in London at the end of the month.
Tickets are still available and fans will be able to interact with current and past Olympians the Olympic Plaza outside of the facility.
If you can't make it to tonight's match, you can check out all the action through Stanford's Cardinal Channel by clicking here.
The list of former Golden Bear rowers continues to grow with the announcement that the Canadian rowing team has named former Cal standouts Scott Frandsen and Will Dean to its roster for the games in London later this month.
Frandsen, who won silver in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, will row in the pair, while Dean will row in the four in the London games.
Frandsen and Dean join U.S. rowing men's eight head coach Mike Teti, U.S. rowing assistant coach Laurel Korholz, U.S. Women's lightweight double sculls coach Dave O'Neill, Julie Nichols (U.S. women's lightweight double sculls), Zach Vlahos (U.S. men's eight), Erin Cafaro (U.S. women's eight), Kara Kohler (U.S. women's quad sculls), Elliot Hovey (U.S. men's quad sculls) and Olivier Siegelaar (Netherlands men's rowing) as Golden Bears in the 2012 Olympics.
You can follow along Frandsen's journey with his blog here as the two-time Olympian prepares to compete in the London games.
