Holiday Bowl Q&A w/Tightwad Hill

Last week we conducted a Q&A with Cal blog Tightwad Hill. TH is the best team blog i've come across, no other blog in the country provides as much quality content as that one. A bold statement, i know, but fact nonetheless. Below are their answers to my questions.

(Their questions for me can be found here)

The 12th Manchild: During this year's Texas A&M @ Kansas game, the KU student body repeatedly heckled Jorvorskie Lane with chants of "Walrus". As the resident Californian, with your proximity to sea lions (relative to Texas), can you please evaluate the validity of their choice of nickname? If you were the heckler (safe behind 1-foot thick concrete walls and bullet proof glass, of course) what name would you bestow upon him.

Tightwad Hill:Firstly, the walrus and the sea lion are quite different animals. Secondly, neither move quite as quickly as Mr. Lane. Thirdly, we come not to heckle Jorvorskie Lane, but to celebrate him. CFB is great precisely because of athletic freaks like him. In the NFL, everyone's fast and enormous, so no one stands out.

I do look forward to the Lane/Shamu staredown at Sea World. Shamu's been feisty lately, what with almost crushing one of his trainers, so Lane had better bring his A game.

With respect to the game, I am very concerned that Cal's linebackers will have a difficult time wrapping up on Lane. I am even more concerned that Lane will grow tired of the proceedings in San Diego and eat our nickel back in the 2nd quarter.

The 12th Manchild: Marshawn Lynch. 3 years. 4501 total yds. 33 TDs. 198 pts. All that in addition to an impressive trail of empty jocks and broken ankles, yet many fans cry out for the lack of hardware in the trophy case. Why do they need to shutup? and What overrated players does Marshawn get drafted over?

Tightwad Hill:I don't know a single Old Blue who followed the Bears PT (pre-Tedford) who thinks Marshawn is a disappointment. It's the bandwagon crowd who expected that Cal would naturally beat SC this year and Marshawn would naturally win the Heisman.

Marshawn's not perfect - he dances too much and occasionally tries to make the perfect run instead of picking up four yards off right tackle. But he is the most exciting back this side of Steve Slaton, and he will make a terrific pro. He's played the entire year with two sprained ankles, and he still averaged six yards a carry. What separates Lynch is his versatility - he is very dangerous catching passes out of the backfield and Tedford will typically try to isolate him and DeSean Jackson in space at least a couple times every game.


The 12th Manchild: Berkeley or Cal? It seems like it's "Cal" when the discussion is sports based, and "Berkeley" when the discussion is academics. Set this ignorant Texan straight.

Tightwad Hill: You're spot on. With respect to athletics, it's always Cal or California - never UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal-Berkeley or Cal State Berkeley, which is what the Citrus Bowl called us in 1991. However, academics always refer to the school as "Berkeley" like Oxford or Cambridge. The reasons for the AD's position are twofold. First, ours is the original UC campus, and therefore
we feel we don't need the geographic distinction - we are California, and the other guys are UCLA (or the Southern Campus). Second, the athletic department became uncomfortable with Berkeley because of what the word connotes - this was a much bigger issue in the 60s and 70s of course.


The 12th Manchild: Besides Sandy Cohen, who is Cal's most beloved graduate? most embarassing?


Tightwad Hill: Sandy is definitely one of the best fictional graduates, along with Monk, Jack Bauer, and Ray Kinsella. I'm fond of Ray myself.

In real life, there's lots to choose from in both categories. For "embarrassing" lots of folks suggest William Hung of Idol fame, but the Hungster never graduated. William Randolph Hearst has his name all over the campus and city, but he was a pretty miserable guy. The inspiration for Citizen Kane the inventor of yellow journalism, which is quite a legacy. I guess I'd go with Robert McNamara, who seemed to hash things up pretty well in Vietnam.

For most beloved, Jerry Mathers merits mention, but I prefer Mark Bingham. No one knows exactly who forced Flight 93 to the ground in rural Pennsylvania, but my money's on the 6'5" rugby star sitting in first class.


The 12th Manchild: With the Aggie Defense's return to "Wrecking Crew" status this season, coupled with a solid list of QBs mangled at their hands (OkState-Bobby Reid, Baylor-Shawn Bell, Texas-Colt McCoy), how concerned are you for Nate Longshore and his various internal organs?

Tightwad Hill: I'd be more concerned if Cal's line wasn't so efficient at pass blocking. Longshore hit the turf only 13 times this year, despite being about as mobile as a dump truck. I'm actually more concerned with Nate's decision making under pressure - his pocket presence isn't very good and he tends to force balls. Another concern is that Cal's fullback Byron Storer broke his arm and will miss the game; Storer is excellent on blitz pickup and his absence could present a problem.