Sunday, September 23, 2007

Another Week, Another Win

Another high scoring victory for the Golden Bears, and yet something feels a bit off. Next week’s game at Oregon will be the next major test of the season. They passed the first one with a win over Tennessee, but right now Oregon looks like a better team than the Vols, the game is on the road, and the Bears are having problems on defense. If they keep on playing this way, I think they’re looking at another 8-4 or 9-3 season. I hope that’s just me being pessimistic – and if they win impressively against the Ducks, a BCS bowl bid isn’t out of the question.

Speaking of pessimistic – because we were heading out to dinner last night, I listened to most of the second half on radio. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more pessimistic play-by-play announcer than Joe Starkey. He was ready to give up with the Bears leading by two touchdowns in the 4th quarter, for crying out loud. I think all those years of watching lousy Cal teams get blown out every other week did something to Joe’s psyche. For his call of “The Play” alone, his place in football announcing history is secure, but even though I like him a lot, he does have his weak points. When you listen to him but put the picture on TV, it’s obvious that Starkey focuses on telling you the result of the play, but does little to describe the play while it’s developing. That makes for a lot of exciting calls, but it makes it difficult to draw a good mental picture of the action, if you’re only listening and not watching.

But you have to hand it to him. He finished the Cal game after 7 p.m. last night, and was in Pittsburgh for the 49ers game today. That’s dedication.

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