This land may now be called California Golden Blogs North.

But do not worry, fair denizens of UC Eugene.  We come in peace!  Here, take these cured meats and bejeweled jean jackets as signs of our goodwill.  We have been traveling to the many different SBNation-States here as pioneers, explorers, and conquistadors.  Mostly, conquistadors, because we love those hats.

"The Maharg in full rave mode" via www.marcnorton.us

First, we went to Building The Dam.  Their ways are interesting to us all.  They showed us their giant feasts, their all night dance parties, and their cocaine-fueled goat orgies. 

Things were going well until they tried to complain about how long it had been since they went to the mystical "Rose Bowl."  Their impudence offended us.  Telling us how to deal with not going to a Rose Bowl is like telling a fish how to survive in water.  It's just second nature to us.  So, we left.  I mean we raped, pillaged and burned before we left.  But not quite in that order.  And that was the problem.  We burned first, which really decreased the quality of both the rape and the pillage.  Always have to remember to keep that in the specific order.  Burn last.  Always remember.  Burn, last.

We then traveled to the Nation of the Bruins.  Their fast-paced acronym-based language confused us.  We tried to make nice nice with those hostiles by giving them the stuffed mustaches of Dorrell.  But, in response, the savages shot arrows at us.  So, we got the hell out of there.  But not before they captured CBKWit.  We thought of trying to go back in to save him, but I mean c'mon, arrows?!?!?  I don't need that.  Not worth it, not worth it.

And now we are here and we like it.  It's good up here.  Decent home-brewed beers, I mean not as good as back in our fair land, but still pretty good.  I'm partial to JShufelt's JDraft.  That's a good one.  I've always felt Seattle Quacker's JDraft was just derivative.

Plus, after how our football team has done against yours the past 4 out of 5 years, I feel like we own this land anyway.  So, in anticipation of the big b-ball game this weekend, we have come here to claim this land in the name of CGB.  Bring us your women, build us our houses, and let's get to the work making CGB North the best possible CGB Annex possible.  Can't be worse than Euro-CGB.  Let's do this thing!

Now, I bring you news of your new team!  Listen carefully to see how your new Golden Bear overlords are doing.

Cal beats Stanford!

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - A year ago, Alexis Gray-Lawson was a wreck after losing by two points at home against archrival Stanford. She pulled her jersey over her head and sobbed, as California had just cost itself the top spot in the Pac-10 Conference. The Golden Bears went on to fall against Washington and wound up in second place behind the Cardinal - again.

This year could be different, a first.

Gray-Lawson scored a career-high 37 points, converting two free throws with 1:09 to play that put her team ahead for good and scoring again with 21 seconds left to lift No. 11 Cal to a thrilling 57-54 victory over ninth-ranked Stanford on Sunday.

"I was crying about this time last year. I felt like this was kind of a rerun of last year," Gray-Lawson said of that 60-58 loss in February when her team was ranked eighth and Stanford at No. 7. "With a minute left, I knew the ball had to be in my hands. I went to the basket and happened to make it."

The Bears (14-2, 5-0 Pac-10) won their sixth straight and beat the Cardinal in Berkeley for the first time since a 64-59 victory on Feb. 12, 1993, and the first time overall since a win Feb. 4, 2007, on Stanford's home floor to snap a 14-game skid in the series.

"Amazing - thank you Alexis Gray-Lawson," said Cal's Ashley Walker, the Pac-10 scoring leader who faced double-teams all day. "I love her to death. She's a gamer. Thirty-seven, what can you say? She was in the zone."

Some post-game quotes:

Head Coach Joanne Boyle

"I thought it was a great game by both teams. It came down to the wire. Give credit to Stanford. They know us so well, they had a great game plan. They tried to take things away from us. They tried to take away our big game. Lexi and our guards just stepped up. It was one of those games where you had to gut it out down the stretch. Our team did a great job. They made it tough for them the last couple of possessions, not letting them get good looks, and not fouling. I'm just so proud of the kids."

"Alexis had a great game. They knew that we'd been running on Ashley a lot most of the year. Alexis is capable of having games like this day in and day out. They took our posts out of it. Lexi stepped up and had the kind of game that we really needed her to have. She can do this every night. We're going to need her to do this."

"Today, this moment, is about celebrating an unbelievable game. Two top-ten teams just playing a great TV game. I am so thankful for the crowd. As a coach before the game, I was thinking that I want to deliver them a great product. That's where the pressure for me comes. The kids did that. They take women's basketball, and women's basketball in the Bay Area, to another level."

"It's one game. We're five games into the Pac-10. We have a lot of basketball. We can't take a dip. This is where we have to say 'push, push, push'. We can't be happy that we're one game up on Stanford. We need to keep going forward."

"We had two great practices before this game. We came in and we were ready."

Unsurprisingly, Lexi is named Pac10 Player of the Week:

BERKELEY - Scoring over half the team's points in the "Battle of the Bay" on Sunday, California Golden Bears junior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson was named the U.S. Bank Pac-10 Player of the Week for Jan. 12-18, commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.

A native of Oakland, Calif., Gray-Lawson led the Golden Bears to a thrilling 57-54 victory over Bay Area-rival and top-10 ranked Stanford, converting on two decisive free throws with 1:09 left to play to put up California for good.

The junior took over for the Bears, who were battling for the top spot in the league standings, scoring a career-high 37 points. Gray-Lawson was the first Bear to score more than 35 points in a game since Jennifer Bennet scored 39 points on March 20, 1987. Gray-Lawson converted on 60 percent of her shots, going 12-20 from the floor, including 5-7 from the arc. It is also the second-highest single-game total in the Pac-10 this season and tied for the fifth-highest in the country to date.

Men's tennis beats St. Marys:

The No. 25-ranked California men's tennis team (2-0) maintained its perfect record with a 6-1 win over No. 51 Saint Mary's College (0-1) at Hellman Tennis Complex today. Sophomore Jonathan Dahan clinched the win for the Golden Bears with his 6-1, 6-2 victory over Andrea Zannoni on the fourth court.

The Bears started off strong as the No. 16-ranked doubles team of senior Geoff Chizever and sophomore Pedro Zerbini took an 8-1 win against Achim Christner and Gavin Leon on the top court. Cal claimed the doubles point when Dahan and fellow sophomore Bozhidar Katsarov defeated Sherif Hamdy and Zannoni on court three by an 8-4 count. The Gaels won the third doubles match as Steven Dawson-Roberts and Lucas Tirelli posted an 8-7(3) win over freshman Nick Andrews and junior Kallim Stewart.

Cal went up 2-0 in the match when the No. 49-ranked Stewart finished his singles match first with a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing of Christner on court two. Freshman Thai Tu was the next to finish down on court six to give the Bears a commanding 3-0 lead with his win over Youssef El Bouzkouri (6-2, 6-1). Dahan clinched the match with his straight-set win on court four next.

Sign up for Cal E-News:

BERKELEY - Golden Bear fans who sign up for Cal's free e-newsletters - Cal Bears E-News - through Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009, will have a chance to win tickets and other prizes.

In addition to weekly awards, new subscribers will have the chance for a grand prize of two tickets to the highly anticipated Cal vs. UCLA men's basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 28 and a 100th Season commemorative mini-ball signed by head coach Mike Montgomery.

Cal Bears E-News will delivered right to your e-mail inbox, packed full of exclusive ticket and merchandise offers, breaking team news, unique content, videos and much more.

Morrah to go pro.  Unclear if Tedford will act like a petulant child at the press conference:

BERKELEY - California tight end Cameron Morrah announced Monday that he will forego his senior season with the Golden Bears and enter 2009 NFL Draft.

Morrah, who stands 6-4, 245 pounds and started all 13 games this past year, tied for the second on the team with 27 catches for 326 yards. He caught eight touchdown passes in 2008 to set a Cal season record for tight ends. Morrah finished his Golden Bear career with 19 starts in 33 games, totaling 41 receptions for 484 yards and 10 scores.

"We work with NFL candidates to educate them on their prospects for the draft as well as the benefits for staying in college," head coach Jeff Tedford said. "I don't necessarily agree with the decision, but I am supportive of Cameron and hope that he is successful at the next level."

 

Rugby continues to be awesome:

LOS ANGELES - The California Golden Bears won their fourth straight UCLA Tournament on Sunday, dispatching Washington State, 76-7, before beating the Bruins, 55-5, in the final for the third consecutive season. The eight-win weekend brings Cal's record to 9-0 as the Bears return home to host Nevada next Saturday.

A total of 43 Bears saw action on the closing day of the Dennis Storer Classic as Cal piled on a dozen tries against Washington State and nine more against UCLA to bring its weekend total to 64 trips into the try zone. Nicholas Maloney had a hat trick against WSU, Alex Aronson, James Giles and Colin Hawley each scored single-match braces and Connor Ring had a try in each of Sunday's matches.

Both the Cougars and Bruins managed to find the try zone against the Bears, with Washington State converting its try in the first half while UCLA averted a shutout in the final with a try in the 42nd minute.

Women's Tennis also awesome:

BERKELEY - The No. 2-ranked California women's tennis team achieved perfection as the Golden Bears won all of their matches on the final day of the Cal Winter Invitational at Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley, Calif. No. 13-ranked sophomore Marina Cossou was named the singles champion for her three wins (two on the top court and one on the second court) and shared the doubles title with senior Claire Ilcinkas as the No. 7-ranked duo won all three of their matches on the top doubles court. Please check TennisInformation.com and search for tournament identification No. 5187209 for complete results.

Cal faced Saint Mary's in singles matches and Cossou completed her perfect weekend with a 6-1, 3-0 win over the Gaels' Claire Soper as she retired with an injury. Meanwhile, fellow sophomore Mari Andersson claimed a 6-2, 6-2 win against Ana Chikhikvishvili on the top court. No. 52-ranked freshman Jana Juricova posted a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Marah Calvo on the next court over while fellow frosh Stephany Chang got a 6-0, 6-2 win against Kathryn Malec on the seventh court.

The Bear seniors enjoyed another victorious day as No. 15 Bojana Bobusic claimed a 6-2, 6-3 win over Molly Aloia, No. 30 Claire Ilcinkas took a 6-2, 6-1 win against Erin Young and Marion Ravelojaona dropped Alita Fisher in a 6-1, 6-2 decision.

BERKELEY - The No. 2-ranked California women's tennis team maintained its hot hand as the Golden Bears won all eight of their singles matches and three of four doubles matches on the second day of the Cal Winter Invitational at Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley, Calif.

No. 13-ranked sophomore Marina Cossou capped off the undefeated day in singles play by clinching her three-set win over Nevada's Caroline Bailly with a 6-2 third-set score. Cossou won the first set, 6-3, but struggled in the second to fall, 6-4. She held serve in the fourth game of the third set to go up 3-1 before breaking Bailly's serve to go up two breaks at 4-1. Bailly fought back to claim a seventh game that included five deuce points but rebounded with a shutout in the eighth and final game.

Cal had little trouble in all seven of its other singles matches. Sophomore Mari Andersson made short work of Nevada's Caroline Stevens, getting a 6-0, 6-0 victory. The three Bear freshmen each claimed victories as Jana Juricova defeated Nevada's Florence De Vrye, 6-0, 6-3; Stephany Chang posted a 6-1, 6-2 win against the Wolf Pack's Katarina Huba; and Catalina Visico got her second singles win of the year with a 6-4, 6-3 win over SMC's Kathryn Malec.

The three Cal seniors also walked away with wins today. No. 15 Bojana Bobusic put up a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Nevada's Aodhnait Lombard and No. 30 Claire Ilcinkas dropped Lais Ogata in a 6-2, 6-1 match. Marion Ravelojaona came away with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Alita Fisher of Saint Mary's.

Now, repeat after me.  GO BEARS!  Got it?  GO BEARS!  Let's try that one last time, Go.  BEARS!