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By Carolyn Jones The 2002 Cal football season started with a trick play for a touchdown, and ended with the Axe back in Berkeley, both goal posts coming down, and thousands of strangers embracing on the field like battle-weary soldiers after a cease-fire. "I served in World War II, and I have never seen so many people so happy," said my dad, George Jones ’51, tears welling in his eyes (and not just from the bloody Marys). It was the perfect ending to a glorious 7-5 season.  For Cal fans everywhere, November 23 was a day of pure love. At Memorial Stadium, love rained down from the hills, from the giant video screen (with multiple showings of the Play), from the flags snapping in the breeze, from the splintery, peeling old wooden benches. From face-painted students to buttoned-down alumni, from rejuvenated players to poker-faced coaches, there was nothing but unadulterated joy. Unadulterated joy? At Memorial Stadium? In late November? Quite a disorienting state of affairs for most Cal fans, who’ve endured the gamut of pain--frustration, sorrow, crushed hopes, fury, and, yes, tedium--through the seven-year Axe drought. But in 60 glorious minutes--or, more precisely, 59 minutes and 49 seconds, when 15,000 fans rushed the field and officials called the game--all was suddenly well again. Even better, the Bears didn’t just win, they dominated. There was not a suspenseful minute in
The only hold-out in the love department was the final score, 30-7. Fans hungered for a blowout, like maybe 70 points. In section DD, there were rumblings that maybe coach Jeff Tedford was showing some unnecessary gentlemanly restraint. "It’s his first year," said my dad. "He doesn’t understand our bloodlust." Meanwhile, people were chanting, "More! More! More!" But, really, who could complain about what the Bears accomplished this year? Going from last year’s 1-10 record to the first winning season since 1993--the second-best turnaround in school history--buys a lot of forgiveness. Some were saying that the icing on this year’s Big Game
And there were the players’ post-game quotes, like this gem from Stanford senior running back Kerry Carter: "This is probably one of the worst feelings I’ve had." Or this from senior defensive tackle Matt Leonard: "Losing this one is going to leave a bitter taste in my mouth." Or, my favorite, from coach Buddy Teevens: "It was embarrassing, our downright inability to move the football." What Cal fan doesn’t relish such statements? In a wonderful bit of symmetry, this year was the 20th anniversary of the Play, the legendary five-lateral kickoff return in which Cal’s Kevin Moen trampled Stanford trombone player Gary Tyrell in the end zone to win it 25-20 with no time left. Throughout the 2002 season, the Play was re-shown at home games, always evoking huge cheers from the crowd. During Big Game week, the Play was ubiquitous. Seemingly every media outlet in the civilized world did a re-cap, each noting recent ESPN and Washington Post polls that ranked the Play as the most exciting event in sports history. I, personally, have seen the Play tape roughly seven million times, but it still gives me chills every time. This year I realized why the Play will remain, to quote KGO’s Joe Starkey, "the most amazing, heart-rending, exciting, thrilling finish" for all eternity: because it represents simple hope. It’s a tangible reminder that, every once in a while, against the most insurmountable odds, the impossible happens. And fittingly, it belongs to Cal. If ever there was a season that had insurmountable odds, it was this one. Coming off one of its worst seasons in history, and inaugurating its fourth coach in eight years, Cal was picked to finish in the basement of the Pac-10 for the umpteenth year in a row. Fans were so demoralized that many, including me, seriously considered whether the heartbreak and emotional trauma was worth the ever-increasing price of season tickets. The 2002 Golden Bears lost only a handful of seniors but gained one very talented coach in Jeff Tedford. This was enough of a change to render the team that emerged from the North Tunnel against Baylor totally unrecognizable. Cal scored 70 points in that first game, proof that this would be a very different kind of season, even if they lost the next 11. They didn’t. In fact, after trouncing New Mexico State, Cal went on to accomplish the unthinkable--the Bears walloped a top-15 opponent, on the road, for the first time in 28 years, beating up Michigan State, 46-22. Quarterback Kyle Boller had four touchdowns in that game--two throwing, one running, and one receiving. By now the bandwagon was standing-room only. How did the Bears top the Michigan State game? By traveling to Seattle and beating dreaded Washington, 34-27. Let me repeat, these were the same Bears who lost every single game last year except one (to Rutgers). Boller had another outstanding day against the Huskies, throwing a career-best five touchdowns and totaling 266 yards. Afterwards he told sportswriters, "I can honestly say this is the best game I’ve ever played, high school or college. It was the best feeling to look up in the stands afterward. I saw my mom jumping up and down. It was awesome." The reason he could spot his mom in the stands is that the Washington fans had all left! The last time Cal drove opposing fans to leave the game early, George Bush Sr. was President. Possibly the most creative play-calling I’ve ever seen came against UCLA two weeks later. Cal was ahead 17-10 with five seconds remaining. Cal had the ball on their own 38, but it was fourth down, so they couldn’t just run out the clock. They had to run a play. Tedford called the only play that would absolutely guarantee the Bears a victory: Boller took the ball, turned 180 degrees, and threw a 40-yard pass to Jonathan Makonnen in the end zone. It was a safety for UCLA, game over. Cal won 17-12. The first "Tedford is God" T-shirt appeared at halftime of the Baylor game. By November they were everywhere. Once, later in the season, we were heading up to a game and a cluster of fans was trying to drum up support to keep Tedford at Cal. "But he just signed a contract," we said. They answered, "Well, yeah, but...." The assumption at Cal is that if a coach is any good, sooner or later he’ll leave for a real football program. But Tedford appears to be staying put for a while, thanks to athletic director Steve Gladstone and a big fat contract laden with lucrative incentives. Most everyone agrees: raise tuition, raise taxes, give him a parking space--do whatever it takes to keep Tedford on the payroll. Former Cal coach, quarterback, and all-around football legend Joe Kapp ’59 repeated last week that he is forsaking tequila until Cal makes it back to the Rose Bowl-—a trip last made in 1959, with Kapp at quarterback. After this season, and this year’s Big Game, I think everyone would agree that Kapp should dust off that bottle and join legions of Cal fans everywhere for a spirited toast to the Bears. |
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