If you haven't heard, the Cal Berkeley campus has a reputation for protesting anything and everything.
The most recent issue being debated is the planned construction of a new athletic training complex and renovation of Memorial Stadium, which lays right on top of the Hayward earthquake fault.
However, a 129-page ruling by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller has put the plan to build the state-of-the-art facility on hold.
"We are ecstatic," said Stephan Volker, attorney for the California Oak Foundation who sued the university two years ago. "We believe this project is now dead."
However, not everybody feels the project is dead.
"This in no way affects our ability to build the center," said UC spokesman Dan Mogulof. "This is a great ruling for us."
With Cal football now relevant once again, mainly thanks to the effort and recruiting of Head Coach Jeff Tedford, the training facility has been a key reason why he has stayed and signed contract extensions the past few years.
Tedford has stated on many occasions that he needs new facilities on campus to compete with other Pac-10 schools (Oregon and USC mainly) in order to land big-name recruits and keep the momentum in the program going forward.
This 18-month debate on whether the university would be allowed to build the facility has caused those famous Berkeley activists to head up in the trees and setup shop, which they started doing on the same day as the famed Cal vs. Stanford "Big Game" in December 2006.
Around 30 tree-sitters have filtered through the trees since they began their protests, occasionally causing problems with the police and Cal football fans.
Now my viewpoints on the whole situation are completely one-sided for obvious reasons. I have been a Cal football fan for basically my entire life and to say I don't agree politically (and logically) with the tree-sitters, would be a nice way of putting it.
The reason that Tedford has stayed with the Golden Bears program is because he wants to build the program his way. And Tedford's way, for the most part, has worked out just fine since he took over for Tom Holmoe before the 2002 season.
When Tedford signed his first contract extension, he made it very clear that Cal's facilties were lacking. Now I have been to many Cal athletic events in my lifetime, and they have some pretty nice facilities, but Memorial Stadium is not one of them.
Whenever a high profile coaching job becomes available, Tedford is always thrown around as a possible candidate. It's just a matter of time before Tedford does bolt for better things if the current situation doesn't go the athletic departments way.
And as long as the tree-sitters prevent Cal from upgrading their facilities, it might be the reason that the Bears say goodbye to one of their best and brightest coaches ever.
22 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
milo about 1 year ago
STFU...Tedford isn't going anywhere just yet and the issue hasn't been settled fully.
As Sandy Barbour said, it's a complex legal issue. It will be sorted however. The reports and analysis say Cal has to prove some points but other wise can proceed.
Calm down.
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Danny Penza about 1 year ago
I never said Tedford IS going. It's just the fact the guy needs the facilities to recruit, has been vocal about it, and if he doesn't get them, he'll consider leaving.
There's no need to lash out in that kind of manner.
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Scott Tully about 1 year ago
All of you can't read if you think Daniel wrote in the article Tedford is leaving. He just wrote if CAL doesn't get its act together Tedford will get more frusterated and start entertaining other job offers. Everybody just put yourslef in Tedford's Nike Turfs.
If you work your ass off recruiting against USC and UCLA in the state of California, sleep inside Memorial stadium to save two hours a day of commute time to his Daniville home just so he can grind more game film, you are going to be very upset people living in trees around the staduim is preventing you from making your program part of the top ones in the nation.
Cal's weight room is weaker then some high school's and they sometimes practice on the Rugby field above Memorial. Bears fans should just love Tedford's wife though because she loves the Bay Area and doesn't want to leave. Without her Tedford would probably getting nasty in the SEC with those athletic ballers.
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Reggie Garcia about 1 year ago
seriously Milo, have you ever even been to Berkeley? does your opinion matter at all? with a sailor's mouth like that I would say no. Daniel this is a great article, and recruiting is hot in California, but it seems like every one of them is putting on a Trojan helmet. Tedford is gone within the next 2 years, call it!
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Danny Penza about 1 year ago
I appreciate the kind words. It's the reality of what's going on. I'm not giving a stone cold lock to anything. People who are reading this are getting the idea that I'm saying he WILL leave. I want to see Tedford stay as much as anybody. The things he has done with the Cal program is really incredible considering where it was. But considering that this project has been delayed (again) and both sides seem to be celebrating, is it really a good thing?
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Joe Taylor about 1 year ago
As a Razorback fan living in northern CA, I've watched Tedford build Cal into one heck of a football program. It would be interesting to see what he could do if his facilities were up to par. It's a shame that far left politics are endangering everything Tedford has done to date, but it's important to remember that there is no give and take when dealing with these radicals. It's either their way, or nothing at all.
I believe you're correct about him looking elsewhere if he isn't able to compete on the recruiting front. Even little Stanford has built one hell of a nice new facility by PAC 10 standards. I am glad Arkansas landed Coach Petrino, but during the search last season, Tedford was one of the coaches I really wanted the Razorbacks to look at. I'm certainly not saying he would leave Cal to go to Arkansas, but I am saying that if he toured the facilities there, he'd be very tempted. Especially when you consider Arkansas was willing to pay Petrino 2.85 million - a million more per year than Tedford makes now.
If the facilities aren't upgraded, look for Tedford t leave, and most likely head to the SEC. In the next year or two, there are going to be some openings, and all them have world class facilities.
You guys better find a way to deal with these tree huggers, or it's going to be right back to the cellar with your Bears.
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George Watson about 1 year ago
Hey! "little" Stanford has a heck of a lot more money to build stuff than JC Kal. We could buy Kal if we wanted.
Give Harbaugh a few years, we'll hang in there well enough. Go Card!
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Matt Heath about 1 year ago
did you actually read the opinion or are your merle reading the crap the chronicle is putting out? cal won on VIRTUALLY every ruiling. there is ZERO chance it's not getting built. It may take another 3-4 months to break ground, but the judge ruled in favor of the university except for a couple of very minor parts of the facility (all of which the university can go foward with when a valuation of hte stadium is made). be educated before you start saying this is why tedford might leave. and also the treeturds have NOTHING to do with why this has been delayed. NOTHING. It's the city that is the problem.
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Danny Penza about 1 year ago
I wrote this before the ruling came out. The stuff I read in the Chronicle the day after had nothing to do with Tedford. The only thing that had to do with Tedford was Ray Ratto's column that came out today.
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Danny Penza about 1 year ago
check that, right after.
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David Azevedo about 1 year ago
Tedford has given no reason to believe he will bolt to another job in the foreseeable future. If the project was totally abandoned by the Administration, then yes, he'd go for lack of support. But the Administration from top to bottom has been supportive and fought for the Athletic Center and stadium upgrades and the recent decision moves that reality closer. Absent the City of Berkeley and their obstructionist mentality, we would have had this Center already.
There is nothing new that would lead one to believe Tedford will go anywhere. So why raise this ridiculous mantra again? Pundits since year One have opined that Tedford will go to better waters, as though Cal was not worthy of such a talent. Bull. As a Cal fan you should know better than to fall into this same trap. Why would he want another job? Where is there a better paying job at a prestigious university in a great football conference, in one of the grandest areas in all the world, where he would be given free reign to mold a program to his liking. Nowhere.
Frustrating delays, sure. But Tedford is in it for the duration. He will get an athletic center for the students and he will be our coach and he will lead Cal to its first Rose Bowl in 50 years, and........
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Pete Morris about 1 year ago
An Old Blue with roots in the Kapp era, I'm optimistic, too. The ruling this week confirms what we've generally known all along: the project will get done; it's just a matter of how soon.
Given that Tedford: (a) is no the longer the red-hot, up-and-coming "commodity" he once was, which isn't to say he doesn't remain a fantastic coach that a lot of schools would love to have, (b) he seems very happy with his situation at Cal, both personally and professionally, (c) he is by far the highest-paid employee in the entire UC system and one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, and (d) he's done nothing but demonstrate patience on this project and complete faith in the administration, I see no reason for us to fret about the prospect of him leaving. I sincerely believe he's here for the long run.
Many of us have seen some very lean years at Strawberry Canyon. There is far too much momentum in Cal's entire Athletic Department now to realistically envision a collapse. Instead, I firmly believe that the Bears are about to enter the upper echelon of college sports--a return to the way things used to be before the disastrous 1960s.
And Stanford fan George: I would love nothing more than to see Harbaugh resurrect the Cardinal football program. Our rivalry desperately needs it. But Harbaugh reminds me a lot of Joe Kapp, who also enjoyed some optimism-inspiring early success, only to have those dreams revealed as naive false hope a few years down the road. I can't fault you for keeping the faith, but I'd keep the woofing to a minimum before Stanford actually accomplishes more than just a couple nice upsets here and there.
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J W about 1 year ago
Daniel, you've fallen into the same trap that the SF Chronicle did when initially reporting on the judge's decision: you haven't read it.
Furthermore, the tree sitter are preventing absolutely NOTHING. They really have nothing to do with the court case. The case has NOTHING to do with trees, really. The university could have removed them months ago if they wished to. As of RIGHT NOW, the tree sitters are seeing the end of the road. Their supply lines have been cut off in the last couple of days.
Read the decision, Daniel.
After that, write another post.
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J W about 1 year ago
Allow me to clarify on something I wrote that could be misinterpreted.
When I wrote that "the university could have removed them months ago if they wished to," I was referring to the tree sitters, not the trees.
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J W about 1 year ago
Most of the people commenting here (Daniel, Joe, Reggie, George) clearly have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to the tree sitters and the court case.
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RBB about 1 year ago
I mean, really? You're really going to waste another 500K of internet space with pointless drivel about Tedford leaving? So what you're saying is that he's going to wait through 3 years of delays and bullshite only to leave right before we start construction. Yeah, that makes sense.
The training complex WILL be built. The ruling assures that it is inevitable. The treeturds have a very brief stay of execution, that is all.
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Clark Welch about 1 year ago
He would leave beacuse of a ruling that was basically 98% in favor the the University?
Nice misleading headline!!!!!
Clark
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milo about 1 year ago
D'oh! The headline reads, "Jeff Tedford Could Leave UC Berkeley Due to Court Ruling, Tree-Sitters"
WTF, Daniel...semantics...you say JT "could" leave...what's the point in stirring the pot?
Like I said, I don't think Tedford is going to leave. He certainly "could" leave in the future and there "could" be an earthquake tomorrow...and Geo W. Bush could be smart...and I could be going out with a Stanfurd chick (which I am) so what's the point? To get hits on your blog?
@ Reggie...you think Tedford is gone in two years? Given the stadium looks like it's going to move forward, I don't think so. Are you a Cal fan or a U$C stooge, from Stanford or just a hater?
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Danny Penza about 1 year ago
You complain about the headline big guy, but look the history of the article. I didn't do that. It's not for getting hits. I wrote this article because it's something that is happening in the news. I wanted to share my opinion on the topic. If you have a problem with it, write a article voicing your view. I'm not stopping you.
And congrats on having a girlfriend. I'm proud of you.
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Peter Mutnick about 1 year ago
I am on the other side, in principle, but Charles Olson has it right and Stephen Volker has it all wrong, or else I can't read a legal brief. The requirements to meet both the Alquist-Priolo and the CEQA laws are de minimis. The new structure as a whole was ruled not to be an alteration of the Stadium, and only three seemingly trivial "elements" were found to be alterations. Those three elements must not add up to more than half of the value of the Stadium. As for CEQA, the University just has to show why it is unavoidable, rather than just desireable, to double the number of capacity events. The value of the Stadium does have to take into account depreciation, but Volker's claim that its value is zero is almost certainly absurd. So, chins up, until the big quake, and then we will see how many of you sports enthusiasts have to be dug out of the mud and debris. Nature laughs last at the folly of men.
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Joe Jeffries about 1 year ago
Cal is Berkeley! No one in the know would ever use the term, "Cal Berkeley", UGH! That would be like saying AM and morning to describe the time of day.
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JJ mm about 1 year ago
Wow it sounds like Cal fans are very defensive to this idea. Tedford left Oregon, who has some of the best facilities in college football, to only step back into a dinosaur era of facilities. He has overcome so many hurdles in putting Cal back on the map. But after sometime, I would think with all of the lucrative offers to him that he would want to move on to bigger and better things. Oregon is snatching some of these recruits that would love to play in the Bay area simply because of better facilities. If Cal keeps lagging in their efforts to build a better facility I could see Tedford wanting to move on. He is trying to lure recruits against USC, UCLA, and Oregon with half the amenities. Figure it out, why go to Cal when these other Pac-10 schools are more appealing. If you can't get the best recruits you will struggle, end of story. If you were a coach that brought a program from the basement to the top floor, wouldn't you want more support from your community. There are so many great coaching jobs out there, I would think even if they do build these facilities there would be a chance for Tedford to leave. He is one of the best coaches out there and I wouldn't be surprised if he was offered a NFL job that was too appealing to pass up. It's one of the hardest things to deal with in College Football, once you have a good coach everyone wants them and they create offers that become harder to pass up after time.
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