4th of July Bear Tracks

July 2, 4:11 AMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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(AP Photo/Paul Hiffmeyer - Disneyland)

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Recent Articles

• Overall, no conference is better than the Pac-10
• Golden Bears steal another recruit from Washington
• Other valuable Bears that missed the top 10 - part two
• Other valuable Bears that missed the top 10 - part one

Call it a case of the summer flu, or maybe it's the summer session, but as the fourth of July nears, I find it more and more difficult to come up with anything mildly entertaining.

Normally, this feeling comes upon me much earlier in the spring, but not this year.  Now that it's finally hit me, I'm that eight-year-old boy, daydreaming in class after lunch recess, staring out the window, and hoping that the day would end soon so I could meet up with my buddies to play a heated street football game, bike tag, baseball, a pickup hoops contest, or some other game that kids used to play.

It may be the summer, but I've got a serious case of spring fever!  So rather than fight the fever, I've chosen to cut this week short and take off for an extended Fourth of July break.

So, this will be my last post until I come back on Tuesday, (meaning that you probably won't see anything new until that afternoon).  [If something breaks, I'll drag myself to the keyboard and get it on here...so it's a tentative break.]

I do have something special in store for you when I get back.  Tuesday, I've scheduled an interview with one of Cal's 2010 commits.  If all goes well, I should have that for you soon after.  Feel free to either email or comment below any questions that you'd want to know about any Cal recruit and I'll get those answers for you if I can.

It looks like I'm not the only one with the fever, as there is little in the way of new Cal news.  Here's what I have for you:

Football

For those of you that like those pre-preseason rankings, The Gainesville Sun is doing their own top 25.  The story is by Adam West, not the actor that played Batman...at least I don't think so.  Here's one thing he listed as a Cal Bears weakness:

Most of the defense remains intact, but Cal may not have enough quality linebackers to run a 3-4 defense after losing three to graduation.

West also pointed to Mitchell Schwartz as a rising star, saying:

Sophomore right tackle Mitchell Schwartz has the size (6-foot-6, 335 pounds) and skills to be the Golden Bears’ star on the offensive line.

Well, one out of two isn't bad...

You may have seen the outrage that Huskies fans had by my use of the word "similar" in my post, Golden Bears steal another recruit from Washington, when referring to prestige difference between the two schools.  The outrage didn't live only in the comments section of the post, but also in my mailbox.

A "Dawgs" fan that will go unnamed left this comment in his message to me:

But good job to you and Tedford on Coleman last year...and good luck with him getting into school this fall.

Since my response didn't hit everyone's inbox, I thought that I would just say it here; I don't work for the university, have no vested interest in the university or any of its programs, and the only interest that I have is reporting / examining the news pertaining to the program for Cal Bears fans, alumni, and guests like the Huskies fans.

The same fan finished his message to me with the following:

Go Dawgs!  And the Football History book is in the mail to you right now, you Clown!

Priceless!  You can never get too many of those as a writer.  I have to say that it was nice to finally get messages like these from non-Bears fans for a change.  I really can't wait to get that history book in the mail either.

Much of that came due to Seattle Times writer Bob Condotta giving the post, and this site, some love from his Huskies Football Blog.  He's a great writer, which is probably why such a big following came over to this space.  Today, I get a chance to return the favor -- of giving love, not 'Clown' messages -- to refer you to his Ranking the schedules article.

I won't give you a quote, but I will tell you that he has the Bears' schedule at sixth most difficult.

Baseball

I haven't covered any baseball this year.  Along with softball, it's a sport that should be covered more.  I'll try and do better, but I'm not going to make too many promises.  For those that do follow the baseball program, it got a pretty good boost recently with the commitment of Yuba City pitcher, Michael Lowden.

In an article by Jimmy Graben of Appeal-Democrat, Lowden sounds a lot like some of the football recruits when talking about why he chose to come to Cal.  He was quoted with the following:

Obviously the school is top notch and education was definitely a deciding factor.  I had a really tough time deciding, but being able to play Pac-10 baseball is a dream come true.

Check out these stats for the 6'2" 175 lbs. phenom: 20-0 high school career record, single-season school record for strikeouts with 102, single-season school record for wins with 11, 1.25 ERA in 2008, and a 1.17 ERA in 2009.  I don't have the speed of his fastball, but with stats like that, who cares?

Have a great 4th!  Be safe, and come back next week.