Cal Bear fans,
Man, that was really bad. A total collapse in the Big Game, a monumental collapse in the season. What a disappointing ending to a season which began with so much anticipation and optimism. Now the axe belong to Stanford and they rightfully deserved it. Despite losing in the Big Game yesterday, Cal will probably get invited to a bottom-tiered bowl later today which they really don't deserve to go. In fact, Stanford and Arizona deserves to go more than Cal.
What ticks me off about this season is not that they lost, but in how they lost and how they continued to lose. They continue to lose week after week after week without any meaningful attempts to find solutions to their problems with any urgency. In not doing so, they do the same thing week after week after week and get the same results week after week after week. Did someone expect the problem to go away by itself when you do the same thing over and over again? Only a fool would expect a different result if you are repeating the same thing over and over again. Ever try running a computer program without any change and expecting a different result? So what was that all about??? This season's debacle lands squarely on Jeff Tedford first, as it should be.
Don't get me wrong, Jeff Tedford is a very good man and a good coach and I'm very appreciative of the results that he has brought in bringing the Cal football program back into respectability and gave us long suffering Cal fans something to look forward to on a Saturday afternoon. I want nothing else more than for Jeff Tedford to be successful and wish him nothing but continued success at Cal.
Being the captain of the ship, you got to make steering adjustments when the ship is off course. Being the manager of the organization, why did Cal's Tedford continue to do the same thing over and over, week after week while they are losing? Did he expected a different results? Was he so arrogant - as in my way or the highway and I'm right and you are not? Did he not know what to do - as in it's always worked in the past, so I just gotta give it more time? Was he afraid to make the tough decisions and to make changes - as in giving Kevin Riley some plays to see what he could do? Why not give Kevin Riley some downs to see what he could do? Why stick with Nate all the way to the bitter end? In contrast, look at Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, he used 2 quarterbacks throughout the whole Big Game, sometimes in alternating series, to keep Cal off balance and to give Stanford added weapons to WIN the Big Game. Why didn't Tedford do that? In the Big Game? In prevous week against Washington? In previous weeks against USC, Arizona St., UCLA? It is down right STUPIDITY, INFLEXIBLITY and ARROGANCE for him not to do so and now we know the results.
This is where I think Jeff Tedford lost his team and as a result, he could not motivate the players and the players didn't respond to him. They saw that the top man was not making the tough calls, for whatever reason, and not owning the problem, no responding to he problem with a sense of urgency and not implementing solutions to the problem, and continued the same course of inaction and doing the same thing over and over again. So the players could care less, lost confidence, quit, gave up and did not care.
As a manager, Tedford lost his men and I'd give him a "F" grade for this season. To fix things, he will have to look at the mirror long and hard and man, it will be a long road back to get his credibility back. To be successful, he will need to own the problem and make tough choices. But I know he can do it if he is willing to do it. At least unlike the past, I don't think we'll have to worry about losing Jeff Tedford to some other team any time soon. I don't think anybody will come calling until he turns it around again.
OK. Now the ranting is over and the steam has been let out through my ears. Whew ... So it's on to basketball now. Cal basketball team is 5-0 and we'll root for them, at least until they lose or until the shit hits the fan, as they say, or us fans =). As fans, we must have short memories ... otherwise, we'll go nuts ... =)
For further reading and there are many today. Read these columns. Very insightful, well written.
Ken
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