Played on the Scoreboard before every game at Sanford. "Glory, glory to ole’ Georgia. Heroes have graced the field before you. Men with hearts, bodies and minds of which the entire Bulldog Nation can be justifiably proud. The tradition of unbridled excellence demonstrated by these individuals and many others spans more than a full century. And now a new breed of Bulldog stands ready to take the field of battle. To assume the reigns of their Georgia forebearers. To continue that tradition. Understanding that there is no tradition more worthy of envy. No institution worthy of such loyalty as the University of Georgia. As we prepare for another meeting between the hedges let all the Bulldog faithful rally behind the men who now wear the red and black with two words. Two simple words that express the sentiments of the entire Bulldog Nation…GO DAWGS!”
The Old Well The Old Well was constructed in 1897 and modeled after the Temple of Love in the Garden of Versailles. It is located at the center of campus and, at one time, served as the sole water supply for the campus. The Old Well, today, is one of the most recognizable symbols of North Carolina. The Old Well Walk On games days, the footbal team is dropped off at the center of campus near the Old Well and they walk through Tar Heel Town and into Keenan Center, high-fiving fans and smiling for the camera. The Old Well Walk serves as a sort of pep rally for the teams and fans and begins about 2.5 hours prior to the game.
Just joined up as THE Ohio State University and stumbled upon this thread. I currently am a 4th year student here so I figured i would throw in a few things. THE GAME First I'll start with just how much we dislike TSUN (That State Up North) (M!ch!g@n). Throughout my time here at Ohio State, I have come across many professors (even history and geography) who will not say the word Michigan. It is always referred to as TSUN. I have even received e-mails from the school itself in which it is referenced as TSUN or even scUM. We have a whole week of activities during "Beat M!ch!g@n Week". Ranging from pep rallies to a blood drive battle with the UofM. The week is capped off with one of the biggest traditions at the school for students. "Mirror Lake Jump". Mirror lake is more like a small pond on our campus here, quite beautiful most of the year. The Thursday night before The Game, all the students flock (Usually intoxicated) to Mirror Lake throughout the night singing school songs including everyone's personal favorite "We Don't Give a Damn..... (For the Whole State of Michigan)" and jump in the lake regardless of weather. It tends to be cold in late November in Ohio. An estimated 18,000 students took part in the jump in 2012 This is a video someone made, edited for language, it is insane and distatsteful. But what do you expect of drunk college kids. This is TBDBITL (The Best Damn Band In The Land). Singing "We Dont Give A Damn...." As they march into skull session. SKULL SESSION and TBDBITL The Ohio State University Marching Band is the largest all brass and percussion band in the world. Known simply as TBDBITL by fans. Two and a half hours before kickoff they have a pep rally of sorts in ou old basketball arena, St. John Arena. Its quite the show. Obviously most people know about Script Ohio prior to games. No greater honor for a band member than to dot the I. Many famous people have also dotted the I in a ceremony as well, like our president Gordon Gee and John Glenn. "Carmen Ohio", our Alma mater, is played at the end of the games. As our team heads over in front of the student section and sing with the 30,000 students. I was somewhere among the team during the alma mater here. After we beat Wisconsin last year on the Braxton Miller Hail Mary. About 1:20 in for the alma mater part. BUCKEYE GROVE A Buckeye Tree is planted for every player who is a 1st Team All-American just outside the horseshoe. Pretty cool tradition. O-H-I-O It is pretty much a proven fact. Walk into any airport in America and yell O-H, someone will yell I-O. Ive tried it in quite a few states . Easily the most common university cheer, especially on football saturdays. With over 500,000 living alumni around the world, Buckeyes are everywhere. Being a national brand also helps. But anytime I wear buckeye gear on vacation, i always get at least one person to give me an O-H. The university has a website dedicated to showing cool O-H-I-O picks from around the world. There are a ton of other traditions here. Maybe I'll make another post as the season goes on.
Figured I would share some pictures here from The Game in real life. Especially since there are so many UM fans in here Was one of the best Saturdays in my life. Bowl Ban or not, its an exciting time to be a Buckeye fan. 12-0 and a win against M*ch!g@n is a great way to end my senior year of college.
The Cal alma mater was written and composed by Clinton R. "Brick" Morse, class of 1896: Hail to California Hail to California, Alma Mater Dear. Sing the joyful chorus, Sound it far and near. Rallying 'round her banner, We will never fail. California Alma Mater, Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail to California, queen in whom we're blest -- Spreading light and goodness over all the West, Fighting 'neath her standard We shall sure prevail- California Alma Mater, Hail! Hail! Hail! The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California, Berkeley. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium. Memorial Stadium was built to honor Berkeley alumni, students, and other Californians who died in World War I, and modeled after the Colosseum in Rome, Memorial Stadium was named one of the 40 best college football stadiums by the Sporting News.[6][7] The team also has produced two of the oddest and most memorable plays in college football: Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels' fumble recovery and run toward the Cal goal line in the 1929 Rose Bowl, and The Play in the 1982 Big Game with the winning kickoff return after five laterals. The current head coach is Sonny Dykes, who began his tenure at Cal on December 5, 2012.[8] History Football was first played on the Berkeley campus in 1882, albeit in a form that resembled rugby. It was not until 1886 that American football began play. Football was put on hiatus in 1906 when it was decided by the Theodore Roosevelt administration that American football was too dangerous a sport and rugby once again took over the scene. Football returned for good in 1915 and Cal has fielded a team in every year since. 1920s "Wonder Teams" The 1920s saw the first golden age of California football, as the Golden Bears went 50 straight games without a defeat from 1920 to 1925, with a record of 46 wins and 4 ties. As of 2010, this is the 3rd longest unbeaten (not to be confused with winning) streak in NCAA history. The 1920-1924 squads were so dominant that they were nicknamed "The Wonder Teams," and were coached by Andy Smith. One of the stars during this era was Brick Muller and the University later established a freshman leadership group called the Brick Muller Society. Cal won four Pacific Coast Conference championships and made three trips to the Rose Bowl during this decade, in 1921 (28-0 win over Ohio State), 1922 (0-0 tie with Washington & Jefferson), and 1929 (8-7 loss to Georgia Tech). One of the most famous (or infamous) moments in college football history occurred in the 1929 Rose Bowl Game. In the second quarter, Cal's defense forced a Georgia Tech fumble on their own 30-yard line, and the loose ball was scooped up by Cal center Roy Riegels. He began to run towards the Georgia Tech end zone for a score, but then in trying to get around the Tech players he inexplicably turned around and headed in the other direction. Riegels advanced all the way to the Cal one-yard line before teammate Benny Lom was able to stop him, whereupon he was immediately tackled by what seemed like the entire Georgia Tech team. Cal elected to punt on the next play; the punt was blocked for a safety, giving the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead and what turned out to be the decisive points.[9] California football also achieved success in the 1930s, winning the PCC championship three times and appearing in the 1938 Rose Bowl, where they defeated Alabama 13-0 with two touchdowns scored by Vic Bottari. Because of its staunch defense, the 1937 squad that went to the Rose Bowl was coined "The Thunder Team." In 11 games, Cal limited its opponents to only 33 points and 1,126 total yards. 1940s and 50s: Pappy's Boys Members of the 1959 Rose Bowl team at a Cal home game in October 2008 The early 1940s were not banner years. Stanford football shut down for three years during World War II, and some of their players switched to Cal in order to keep playing. Among them were Jim Cox, Bill Hachten, Fred Boensch, George Quist and Billy Agnew.[10][11] After the war, Quist returned to Stanford, playing to win against Cal in the 1946 Big Game. 1947 saw a dramatic turnaround as Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf became the head coach. Known as "Pappy's Boys," the Cal teams of 1947-1950 won 33 consecutive regular season games, earning three PCC championships and three Rose Bowl berths.[12] However Cal lost all three Rose Bowls (20-14 to Northwestern in 1949, 17-14 to Ohio State in 1950, and 14–6 to Michigan in 1951). Pappy Waldorf left Cal after the 1956 season, having compiled a record of 67-32-4. Cal again earned a conference title in 1958 and subsequently played in the 1959 Rose Bowl, where it lost to Iowa 38–12. 1960s to 80s: Campus turmoil and football mediocrity The 1960s was a period of particular mediocrity. Marv Levy coached during the early '60s. Levy's best record during his four season tenure as head coach at Cal from 1960–1963 was 4–5–1. Cal had only one winning season (1968), although in that year after beating Syracuse, Cal was ranked in the top 15. The coach during this era was Ray Willsey. Craig Morton, future Super Bowl quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos, was an All-American in 1964. In 1972, Mike White was hired. After two losing seasons, he brought home three winning seasons over the next four. In 1975, behind an NCAA leading offense anchored by All Americans Chuck Muncie, Joe Roth, Wesley Walker, Steve Rivera and Ted Albrecht, the Golden Bears were co-Champions of the Pacific-8 Conference, but UCLA went to the Rose Bowl based on their head-to-head victory. Steve Bartkowski ('75) was another noted player who started for the Atlanta Falcons at quarterback. However, White left after a disappointing 1977 season when the Bears finished 8-3 but a disappointing 5th in the division with a 4-3 record. Roger Theder succeeded him and led the Bears to three winning seasons, but each was less successful than its predecessor. In 1979, Cal played in the Garden State Bowl, losing to Temple 28–17 after a 6–5 regular season. The 1980s saw a return to mediocrity, with Cal posting only one winning season in the entire decade. Joe Kapp was the most famous coach in this period. Kapp had been the quarterback of the 1959 Rose Bowl team, and later led the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl. Even so, he was not able to overcome the recruiting drag created by the off-field notoriety of the Berkeley campus. Of note, however, was the 1982 Big Game versus Stanford, which became famous for The Play. After Stanford had taken the lead on a field goal with four seconds left, the Golden Bears used five lateral passes on the ensuing kickoff return to score the winning touchdown and turn defeat into a 25-20 victory. The Play has been named by numerous media organizations as one of the best football, and even American sports, moments.[13] 1990s: A brief return of football success Bruce Snyder arrived at Berkeley in 1987, and gradually turned the program around. He was able to recruit a number of outstanding players, such as Russell White, away from football powers such as USC and UCLA. The reemergence of Cal football as a thriving program was signaled by the October 19, 2024 game against the future national co-champion Washington Huskies. Cal lost 24–17 at home in a game that came down to the Bears' last possession deep in Husky territory and was probably the Huskies most difficult game that season. (The Oakland Fire erupted in the hills south of California Memorial Stadium the day after this game.) Cal football had some success in the early 1990s, earning three postseason bowl berths and winning all three. Cal beat Wyoming 17–15 in the Copper Bowl of 1990, Clemson 37–13 in the 1992 Citrus Bowl and Iowa 37-3 in the 1993 Alamo Bowl. Snyder resigned before 1992 bowl game to take a position at Pac-10 rival Arizona State. The Golden Bears attempted to steal some of the Huskies' magic by hiring away assistant Keith Gilbertson, but he delivered only one winning season in the next four. After the loss of momentum, Cal hired Green Bay Packers assistant Steve Mariucci for the 1996 season. He led the Bears to a winning regular season (losing to Navy in the Aloha Bowl 42–38), but the San Francisco 49ers struck yet again (as with Waldorf) and hired away Mariucci as head coach for 1997, ending the promise of an early Cal revival. The rest the late 1990s saw little success, and the down period reached its nadir in 2001 when the Bears managed only one victory the entire season. The win came in the final game of the season in New Jersey against Rutgers, which was a re-scheduled game due to the September 11, 2024 attacks. Much-maligned coach Tom Holmoe resigned in November of this season and was replaced with Jeff Tedford, previously the offensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks. Worse yet, Cal lost seven straight games to archrival Stanford. Tedford Era California began a renaissance under Jeff Tedford, who dramatically turned around the long-suffering program. Under Tedford the Golden Bears posted eight consecutive winning seasons, a feat that hadn't been accomplished since the days of Pappy Waldorf.[14] After being ruled ineligible for a bowl game in 2002 due to academic infractions under the previous administration, Cal has also appeared in seven straight bowl games. The Jeff Tedford era began with a bang, as California defeated Baylor 70–22, and went on to finish 7–5, their first winning season since 1993. The 2002 team defeated three nationally ranked opponents on the road for the first time in school history including Cal's first win over conference foe Washington in 26 years, and won the annual Big Game against archrival Stanford for the first time in eight years. In 2003 the Golden Bears posted an 8–6 record, highlighted by a dramatic 34-31 triple-overtime victory over No. 3 ranked and eventual national co-champion USC. This victory revived a long moribund rivalry with the Trojans, even as the Trojans reemerged as a national power under Pete Carroll. In the Insight Bowl, the Bears edged Virginia Tech 52–49 on a last-second field goal. 2004 Bowl Championship Series controversy See also: BCS controversies 2004 Big Game In 2004, the Bears posted a 10–2 record under Tedford and quarterback Aaron Rodgers, with their only regular season loss coming against the eventual national champion, USC. California finished the regular season ranked No. 4 according to polls, and appeared to have an excellent chance to receive an at-large BCS bowl berth, most likely in the Rose Bowl. Under normal circumstances, the Bears, as Pac-10 runner-up, would have had first crack at a Rose Bowl berth since conference champion USC was playing for the national championship. The Bears entered their final game of the regular season ranked No. 4 in BCS standings and a 24-point favorite over Southern Miss. They won 26–16 in a closer than-expected game.[15] With 13 seconds left in the game and Cal with the ball at the Southern Miss 22-yard line, Tedford elected to run out the clock instead of attempting to increase the margin of victory to possibly impress some voters.[16] Leading up to the game, Tedford said he had no interest to run up the score.[17] In a controversial case, the Texas coach Mack Brown made impassioned pleas to media asking poll voters reconsider their final votes.[18] Several Associated Press (AP) voters were besieged by fan emails and phone calls attempting to sway their votes, apparently spurred from Brown's pleas to rank Texas ahead of other "less deserving teams."[19][20] Nine of the 65 AP voters switched Texas ahead of Cal, and three of them were from Texas.[21] In the Coaches Poll, four voters moved Cal down to No. 7 and two to No. 8, when the week before none had them lower than No. 6. Meanwhile, two coaches moved Texas up to No. 3 when the team did not play that week.[22][23] The Los Angeles Times wrote that accusations were raised about coaches manipulated voting, but the individual coaches votes were not released to prove or disprove the allegations.[24] The AP Poll makes its voters' records public.[25] No. 6 Texas gained 23 points on No. 4 Cal in the AP poll, and the fifth-ranked Longhorns closed 43 points on the fourth-ranked Bears in the coaches poll. That allowed Texas to earn a BCS berth, finishing .0129 points ahead of Cal in the BCS standings after being .0013 points behind.[21] The Longhorns went on to beat Michigan 38–37 in the Rose Bowl, while Cal was upset by No. 21 Texas Tech 45–31 in the Holiday Bowl and finished the season ranked No. 9. In part because of the controversy with Cal's BCS ranking, the AP poll withdrew from the BCS after the season.[19] 2005 Main article: 2005 California Golden Bears football team The next year saw inconsistent quarterback play and an overall inexperienced roster. Nate Longshore, who was chosen to succeed Aaron Rodgers, who had left for the NFL, sustained a season-ending injury in the season's first game against Sacramento State. He was succeeded by junior transfer Joe Ayoob, who started nine games and went 5-4. Third string quarterback Steve Levy replaced Ayoob as the starter for the Big Game, leading the Bears to victory. Cal finished 8-4 and earned a berth in the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl, beating BYU 35–28. 2006 Main article: 2006 California Golden Bears football team Big Game at California 2006. Cal fans rush the field. In 2006, Cal went on to post a 10–3 (7–2 in Pac-10) record. Despite falling to the Tennessee Volunteers in their first game of the season in Knoxville, the team rebounded, winning eight straight games, including impressive victories over the 20th ranked Arizona State and the 11th ranked Oregon at home. Two losses followed with a November 11, upset 24–20 by Arizona and a 23-9 defeat by USC, which cost Cal its Rose Bowl bid. In the final game of the regular season on December 2, Cal defeated Stanford 26-17 in the 109th Big Game for the fifth straight time. Coupled with UCLA's upset of reigning conference champion USC on the same day, the victory earned Cal its first share of the Pac-10 championship since 1975.[26] Cal accepted an invitation to the 2006 Holiday Bowl, its second appearance there in three years. Cal routed Texas A&M 45-10, the largest margin of victory for a bowl game in the 2006-2007 season, and finished with a No. 14 ranking, an improvement from the No. 20 spot that it started with at the beginning of the season. 2007 Main article: 2007 California Golden Bears football team Cal began the 2007 season ranked 12th in both the AP/USA Today Polls. In a nationally televised game on September 1, the Bears defeated Tennessee 45-31. The Bears rose in the polls following subsequent victories against Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, and Arizona. Cal's defeat of then No. 11 Oregon in Eugene 31-24, combined with a series of losses from Oklahoma, Florida, and West Virginia, allowed Cal to break into the top five. Cal had a bye the following week, but as a result of Stanford's surprise upset of then No. 2 USC on October 6, the Bears were ranked No. 2 in the country in the AP, Coaches, and Harris polls behind No. 1 LSU. This was the highest the team had been ranked since 1951.[27] With the Kentucky upset of LSU on October 13, the Bears had a shot at being the number one team in the nation along with Ohio State, but an upset loss to unranked Oregon State that same night dashed any hopes of a top ranking. The loss marked the beginning of a reversal in the second half of the season which saw the Bears winning only one game out of the next six and dropping out of the Top 25 entirely. The Bears lost to Washington for the first time in five years and to Stanford on the 25th anniversary of The Play, which resulted in the Cardinal regaining The Stanford Axe for the first time in six years under first year head coach Jim Harbaugh. Cal accepted an invitation to the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force on December 31, where post a 42–36 victory to end the season 7-6. Before the season even ended, Tedford declared there would be open competition for all positions on the team in 2008 and reevaluate every aspect of Cal's football program.[28][29] Tedford made several coaching changes, most notably relinquishing offensive coordinator duties and hiring Frank Cignetti to playcall and take over quarterback coaching duties.[30] 2008 Main article: 2008 California Golden Bears football team Cal's 2008 campaign was marked with diminished expectations, as all of Cal's offensive stars at their skill positions (DeSean Jackson, Lavelle Hawkins, Robert Jordan, Justin Forsett and Craig Stevens) graduated or declared for the NFL Draft. Thus the Bears started the season unranked for the first time since 2003.[31] Their 2008 season would confirm this ranking, as they would finish the season undefeated at home but would only win one game on the road. The Bears won their opening game at home against Michigan State 38-31 and eviscerated Washington State in Pullman 66–3, but fell to Maryland 35–27 in College Park. The Bears won two straight home games against Colorado State and Arizona State but fell in the desert to Arizona. Although the Bears still controlled their destiny in the Pac-10 after two more home wins against UCLA and Oregon, two close losses to Pac-10 champion contenders USC and Oregon State on the road put an end to those hopes. Cal reclaimed the Axe by beating Stanford 37–16 in the 111th Big Game and kept Washington's season winless with a 48-7 victory. Cal finished the regular season 8–4 as Tedford claimed his seventh consecutive winning season for the Golden Bears and third unbeaten home record in five years. The Bears accepted an invitation to take on the Miami Hurricanes at the 2008 Emerald Bowl, which they won 24–17. 2009 Main article: 2009 California Golden Bears football team Cal began the 2009 season with early wins over Maryland, Eastern Washington, and Minnesota. However the team struggled with consistency, losing to Oregon and USC, then rebounding to defeat UCLA, Washington State, and Arizona State. Following a loss to Oregon State, Cal managed to upset Pac-10 title contender Arizona. Cal also upset Stanford in the Big Game. The season however ended on a low note with consecutive losses to Washington to end the regular season and Utah in the Poinsettia Bowl. The loss to Utah snapped a four bowl game winning streak going back to 2004. The Bears also did not produce a 1,000-yard rusher for the first time since 2002. The end of the season saw some coaching changes. Cal hired Jeff Genyk as special teams coach to replace the fired Pete Alamar, and Clancy Pendergast as defensive coordinator to replace Bob Gregory, who departed for Boise State. 2010 Main article: 2010 California Golden Bears football team Tedford surpassed the legendary Pappy Waldorf to become the Cal head coach with the 2nd most career victories when the Bears blew out UC Davis 52-3 in the season opener. Despite early successes however, the team had an inconsistent season. After starting senior quarterback Kevin Riley sustained a season-ending knee injury in a loss to Oregon State, Cal had only one win in the final four games, edging out Washington State for the team's sole road victory. The Bears finished the season on a three-game losing streak, getting edged out 15-13 by #1 Oregon, losing the Stanford Axe to archrival #8 Stanford in a 48-14 blowout, and sustaining a last second defeat by Washington. The team finished 5-7, Tedford's first losing season and the team's first losing season since 2001,[32] failing to become bowl-eligible for the first time during Tedford's tenure as head coach. Cal was ranked only once during the season with a No. 24 spot in the Coaches' Poll. One bright spot for the season was running back Shane Vereen going over the 1,000 rushing yard mark, as he finished with 1,167 yards. Final years Main articles: 2011 California Golden Bears football team and 2012 California Golden Bears football team During the massive reconstruction of California Memorial Stadium, California played their home games in AT&T Park in San Francisco, California.[33] The season opener against Fresno State, officially a neutral-site game, was played at Candlestick Park.[34] The regular season also ended with an away game with a matchup at Arizona State on November 25. Following the team's first losing season during Tedford's tenure as head coach, the Golden Bears improved to 7–5 (4–5 in the Pac-12) to finish fourth in the North Division. Cal also became bowl-eligible again and accepted a bid to play Texas in the Holiday Bowl, while the Longhorns and Golden Bears have not met since 1970 in Austin, there is recent history invoking the two teams recently because of the 2004 Rose Bowl controversy.[35] Also, with their victory over Presbyterian on September 17, Tedford became the winningest coach in program history.[36] Memorial Stadium reopened in 2012 after its $321 million renovation, but Cal had another losing season with a 3-9 record—only 2–5 at home. They lost to Stanford for the third straight season. Cal finished the final two games of the season with the worst losses of Tedford's career——a 59-17 home loss to Oregon followed by a 62-14 road loss against Oregon State. A few days after the final game of the season, Tedford was fired as head coach, but was owed $6.9 million over the remaining three years of his contract.[37] In his final three seasons, he was 15-22, including 9-18 in conference games and 0-3 vs. Stanford. Since the loss of the 2007 game to Oregon State, Tedford was 34–37.[38] In a letter to donors, Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour called a "great concern" the 48 percent graduation rate at Cal of football players who entered school between 2002 and 2005; the rate was lowest rate in the Pac-12.[37] Tedford left Cal with the most bowl wins (5), conference wins (50), and games coached (139) in the school's history. He also tied Pappy Waldorf for most Big Game wins (7) against Stanford. During his tenure, Cal produced 40 players drafted by the NFL, including eight first-round picks.[37] New coach: Sonny Dykes On December 5, 2024 Sonny Dykes was announced as the new head coach of Cal Football.[39] Sonny Dykes was recruited from Louisiana Tech and is known for his offensive mind.[40]
