About three hours to the kick off of Cal's first home game of what could be our best season in almost 50 years.

You can feel the excitement.

Cal's been on the front page of the Sports section of the Chronicle every day this week. They're talking about us on ESPN, on Fox Sports, USA Today. A poll on the Chron's front page asked, who do you think will have a winning season, The Raiders or 49ers. Over 50% responded, "Can we just talk about Cal?!" You see a lot more people (and not just frosh) wearing Cal gear. People on the streets are talking. At the barber shop, the conversation isn't "So you go to Cal? Been in any protests lately?" it's "So you go to Cal, whadabout them Bears eh?!"

Nevertheless, I've had lots of explaining to do lately. Why, people ask, do I care so much about Cal football? Especially to the point where I'd postpone a trip to Europe by a week to go to a Rose Bowl (if we're so lucky)What's the big deal?

If you know me, you know that I am very rooted in California, very proud to live in this state, in the Bay Area, and to go to this school. Going here isn't just about me, it isn't just about the work that I've accomplished. I am the end result of the hard work of generations of my family, most especially my parents, who have sacrificed so much to give me the oppurtunities to go here. So......in that sense, Cal represents a lot to me.

Plus, I've had an excellent three years here, I have made great friends, and have lots of wonderful memories. For the first time in my life, I've been made to feel like I actually BELONG at my school. I did not feel that way at Saint Simons even though I went there for 10 years. And certaintly not at Saint Francis, which I never felt truly represented who I was or where I was coming from. Cal does. It's been the perfect fit.

And I do not want to wait untill graduation to celebrate that feeling of belonging, to celebrate Cal. Every football game gives me a chance to rub shoulders and exchange high-fives with students from all majors, from all backgrounds, from the EECS geek to the Sorority Girl, from the frosh to the grad student, heck even some professors.

This campus is HUGE. And as it has grown, the sense of unity that characterized it in the early years has waned. Traditions have died. A lot of people walk around disconnected, disenchanted, eager to get out and graduate because all they can get themselves to care about is grades, graduation, a job, money.

But when school spirit runs high, as it does this season, its easier to put all that aside once your in Memorial. It gives you a chance to cherish the fact that yes, you are making it. You are a student at one of the greatest school's in the world. It gives you a chance to show your pride by rooting for a team that's playing down there on the field, representing you, your school, and your state.

And plus, this is a golden era in Cal's history here folks. And you know me, I'm a sucker for history and tradition. It doesn't take a sports-genius to see that people will look back on our time at Cal and say how amazing its been for our football team. Our coach has engineered an unprecedented turn around. From being a 1-10 joke our frosh year, to be a nationally ranked powerhouse our senior year. That's amazing. If things keep going this way, there could be a statue of Tedford next to Pappy in Faculty Glade come our 25th reunion. Whether you like football or not, what happens on the field will come to be a major touchstone of how our time at Cal is remembered.

But like I said, it is more than about football. It's how football gives this big old university a chance to come together. A chance for us to put down the books, forget about the tests, the grades, the heart-ache, and scream our hearts out for California.

Go Bears!