Cal and history can create an alliance on Saturday that will rock you on your heels and make you utter that timeless rhetorical question, “Are you kidding?” History is pretty cool sometimes, especially when it ties things together in a nice little symmetrical bow that makes folks wonder about fate and omnipotent powers.   Of course, ...

When Stanford begins spring football practice on Monday it will lack a quarterback controversy, typically the only thing that can make spring practice interesting. The intrigue for the Cardinal lies in the fact that everything around quarterback Andrew Luck seems uncertain.   – It’s unclear from the outside exactly who will be coordinating the offense Luck ...

With the NFL Combine starting today (Wednesday) in Indianapolis, we at JakesTakeOnSports are reminded of Jeff George. A pretty college quarterback, George absolutely knocked the socks off NFL scouts with his arm strength, quick release and accuracy at the 1990 combine.   He was so impressive the Indianapolis Colts traded to get the No. 1 overall draft choice, then took ...

For Rhetorical Tuesday this week, we offer three timely questions without expecting an answer.  – How can a college player be unaware that he can’t see?  – Have Cal fans heard that the Bears might win their first conference title in 50 years? – Can’t NBA scouts see what Landry Fields can do?  Since we tend ...

Arizona State’s best player, guard Ty Abbott, reportedly was arrested last week for driving with a suspended license.  ASU coach Herb Sendek has not made any statement about Abbott’s availability for Thursday’s game at Stanford or Saturday’s game at Cal, but it would seem that Abbott would be allowed to play, based on the offense.  The winner of ...

A common complaint about sports writers (and there are several from which to choose) is that they are too negative. To which we at JakesTakeOnSports have two responses: Response A: That’s not true. Response B: OK, maybe it is true, but, face it, negative stuff is more interesting. So in an effort to provide balanced ...

With just two weeks left in the regular season, eight teams still have a chance for at least a share of the Pac-10 regular-season basketball title, and it’s even possible to have a seven-way tie for the conference championship. Granted, the chances of seven teams finishing tied atop the Pac-10 standings with 10-8 records are ...

One day after Bob Gregory left as Cal’s defensive coordinator, Bears head coach Jeff Tedford named Gregory’s successor.   Which means Clancy Pendergast had accepted the  job as the Bears’ defensive coordinator a few days ago.    Which means Pendergast had been speaking with Tedford for some time and was not particuarly thrilled about the assistant coaching job he took with ...

There is an aversion to conference championships on the West Coast. Cal was in control of the Pac-10, then loses by 16 points on Thursday to Oregon State, a team that earlier this season lost to Seattle at home by 51 points and scored just 35 points in a loss to Stanford, but seems to ...

There’s a football adage that claims a head coach is only as good as his assistants.  Nice, pithy sports saying, but most of us ignore it, preferring to heap all the praise or blame on the head coach. Whether that adage has any validity will be determined at Cal and Stanford next season, because some noteworthy changes ...