Brooks, I forgot to mention – at the Cal game, I was sitting with my Cal alum friend in the season ticket area. Two very drunk UO fans came up and sat one row up and six seats over. Loud and obnoxious, not what you want in a group of 50 year old Cal fans and alums. Well, after UO scored their second touchdown on that punt run back, we heard a commotion, and I saw that one of the UO fans was in a head lock and people were calling for security. They took him away. Turns out it wasn’t as we first thought that this guy picked a fight. Turns out that a 70 year old Cal alum sitting behind him whacked him with his cane on the side of the head! The UO fan just reacted, and others jumped on him to stop him from attacking the old man! Turns out the UO fan was a Lane County Sheriff’s deputy, and after explaining everything, the guy who hit him was removed from the game, and the UO fan, now pretty sober, came back to his seat and watched the rest of the game! Actually, wasn’t such a jerk as the alcohol wore off!

Brooks - ya made me laugh out loud with the Peggy reference.

BTW, I was at the UO @ Cal game (cheering on the Bears), and I feel that if Riley hadn't gotten injured at when Cal was up in Corvallis (I was at that game too), Cal could have very well beaten Oregon. I expected Oregon score 60 in Berkeley, but they just squeaked it out. Then again, if Cal had brought that defense to Corvallis, the game probably wouldn't have been the nearly the blowout it was.

Wonder what the game in Stanford (tix should be in my mailbox right now) will be like?

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Hmmm. More I think of it, Brooks, he wasn't an SID, but an Assistant AD for Cal, who was a UofO grad, as I teased him about applying for the UofO AD job at that was open with Belloti's departure, and his response was "No way I'd ever want that job."

So I guess there are a couple of boys from Oregon working at Cal - now a school without baseball.

Brooks, when I looked at Sunken Diamond, I thought, "Wow!" Great setting, great facilities, and a knockout press box, and in some ways even more impressive than Goss. It was a stadium that you'd want to hold a regional or super regional at. But no way would you want one at Cal. It was clear that stadium was built decades ago, and nothing had been put back into it, other than replacing the wooden benches with aluminum. For such a school as Cal, I felt it was embarrassing.

Maybe it was your friend, Scott Ball, who I ran into at the OSU series last season. (Did he go to UofO?) We talked about Cal baseball, comparing the Stanford facilities, and he just sighed, and said that everything was focused on Memorial Coliseum, but that had plans "someday".

Its too bad Haas Pavilion was crowding out baseball, taking all the left field seats. However, attendance was so low, maybe it didn't matter.

Hey Brooks, I called you today when I saw it show up on sfgate.com, and spoke to your sports editor, and he told me that you already knew and was over talking to Casey. But hey, as soon as I heard, I called you.

You are so correct about Evans Field. It is truly an ancient, surrounded by varying ages of concrete, spot of green with NO amenities. There isn't a single seat back there, only aluminum benches. The press box was tiny, one chair width deep with a counter. The concessions are in two trailers. For men, there is only one bathroom that has one toilet and one urinal. Absolutely no ambiance. All of the left field stands were taken when Cal's basketball arena was expanded. And yet, its a short walk from Berkeley, as opposed to the Memorial Coliseum that is clear across campus - and way up the hill. I wonder if the crummy condition of the facilities is why they have some of the lowest attendance in the Pac10, where if they get more than 1000 to a game, that's a big game. And whereas tickets at OSU are $20, they are $6 or $7 at Cal.

Still, looking at the other facilities at other schools, like OSU, UO and Stanford, I wondered how Cal could even recruit. Clearly, if Cal wanted to compete, they needed to update the facilities, something they obviously didn't have the interest in doing. Or the money.

On the other hand, across the bay at Stanford is a fabulous stadium, Sunken Diamond, and good attendance. Oh, and abundant free parking.

Sad day for the grand game of baseball.

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Hey Brooks, welcome back! We can go 70 on the rural interstates down here too.

Looks like I'll be going down to Fresno in February. Thanks for the heads up!

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Yes, Brooks, have fun back in Wyoming, a state that tried to kill me in 1988. (Don't try to drive Interstate 80 west of Laramie in February when the wind is blowing over 60mph and you're driving a motorhome.)

I was on vacation last week, and don't see that you reported that Dan Turpen, drafted by the San Francisco Giants, was part of a trade between the Giants and Boston, and has now gone from Richmond to Portland in the Eastern AA League on July 31. If you reported it, I missed it.

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Have a good vacation, Cliff. Just stay out of trouble if you go back home to San Diego.

Lee Hower -Sacramento

Brooks Hatch? You new around here? Haven't seen your by line in some time.

Seriously, good to see you back with your typewriter, eye shade and sleeve garters intact.

BTW, that AAA All Star game in Lehigh Valley is the home stadium, now, of Mike Stutes, who was promoted to the Iron Pigs on June 18. Wonder if Mike'll come to the game to watch his old teammate scoop them up at short.

A couple of weeks ago, Fresno came to Sacramento, and I got a chance to speak to both Tyler Graham and Joe Patterson. Tyler told me that Dallas Buck had another surgery on his arm and he questioned whether Dallas could come back again. And speaking of Joe Patterson, I see that Joe is now on the DL for Fresno, but I don't know why.

Great to have you back. Now don't be a stranger.

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Graham, even though I'm your age, was born in California, lived all my life in the West, and went to school at OSU, my late mother was from Alabama, and she introduced my dad, also from the Bay Area, to grits. When I came along, it was part of the weekend breakfast rotation: bacon, eggs and grits. (Hmmm. Come to think of it, I don't ever remember seeing grits at the McNary cafeteria.)

However, if you go to the grocery story, at least here in Sacramento, you see one brand, and only one box size of quick grits. However, go to a grocery store in Alabama, you'll find an array of grits selections. Boxes or bags. Different grades. Instant, quick or regular grits that can take up to 30 minutes to cook. Yellow or white. And by several different processors.

Mmmm. Wish I'd have read your blog before I had breakfast, as I'd have changed to that breakfast that I grew up with.

Oh. I must add: Go Beavs!

Lee Hower
Sacramento