But Cal lost to Washington and ended up in San Diego for a different bowl: The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. Worse yet, the Bears could not finish their season with a win, falling to Utah 37-27 in a game that was only close for a few plays in the first and fourth quarters.

“It was really a snowball effect,” said running back Shane Vereen, who started in place of the injured Jahvid Best. “We were on track in the beginning and then we just lost our execution.”

Utah used every trick in its book, including the Wildcat formation, halfback passes, flea-flickers, double reverses and copious amounts of bubble screens. Most of the plays worked, as Utah racked up 389 yards of total offense and controlled the ball for more than 35 minutes. The Utes’ true freshman quarterback, Jordan Wynn, overcame an early interception and finished with 338 passing yards and three touchdowns.

“We think a lot of Jordan Wynn,” said Utah coach Kyle Wittingham. “He’s unflappable. Ice water in his veins.”

But Cal’s defense played well enough to win Wednesday night, even if the box score doesn’t show it. The offense looked slick and in sync in the first quarter as Cal took a 7-0 lead, but the Bears followed that up by going nearly the entire second quarter without a first down. The only other score for the Bears in the first half came on an interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Eddie Young, just seconds after their first touchdown. Soon Cal’s 14-0 early lead had evaporated as Utah’s offense heated up.

“There was so much time left, especially with how explosive our offense can be,” Wynn said. “It was early in the game and we knew we had to get back into it, and we did.”

Heading into halftime, Utah led 24-14 and had all the momentum it could possibly need.

Cal’s woes continued in the third quarter, when the team did not get another first down until almost 12 minutes had elapsed. The Bears finally broke through with a touchdown at the end of the quarter, but only after Utah had successfully rattled off 27 unanswered points.

Despite all of their problems, the Bears only trailed by six heading into the fourth quarter. After another Utah field goal, Cal faced a nine-point deficit with less than 11 minutes until the final gun. The comeback attempt was all but dashed when Stevenson Sylvester returned a Kevin Riley interception for a touchdown with 5:27 remaining.

The season ends with Cal losing back-to-back games after compiling an 8-3 record following upsets of Stanford and Arizona. After the game, the players were predictably upset.

“By far man, this is the worst feeling I’ve had since I’ve been here,” said senior fullback Brian Holley, who played his last game as a Golden Bear.

“This is going to sting for a while,” said coach Jeff Tedford.

Senior tackle Mike Tepper also played his last game for Cal, but was significantly less despondent than his teammates. Still, he called the team’s final 8-5 record “not good enough,” and challenged Cal’s fan base to raise their expectations.

“You need to push the football team to be the best that’s possible,” Tepper said. “To those people who don’t believe that 8-5 is a bad season, that’s incorrect.”

Best, who was a Heisman hopeful early in the season, has likely played his last game for the Bears, but his very productive backup, Vereen, will be back. So too will Riley, who has now been under Tedford’s tutelage for four years. Tepper believes there is enough talent to win a national championship next year, even though Bears fans will live with a Pac-10 championship and a Rose Bowl berth.

For now, the 51st season without a Rose Bowl appearance has ended, and Cal fans will have to wait for the 52nd to try again.

What a difference a month makes.

Tiger with with just a few of the women implicated in his cheating saga. Photo from Flickr user Happy_Blonde.

Turns out that Mr. Roboto (you may call him Tiger Woods) has a bit of a wild side. El Tigre has enough mistresses to make even Hugh Hefner blush. I would write the latest number here, but there’s a good chance it would change before I even hit the “publish” button.

But for certain, there have been no less than 10 alleged mistresses so far, including reality TV stars, porn stars, nightclub managers, models and fugitives from the law. Apparently Tiger really likes waitresses, since most of them either were or used to be servers when they, ahem, served him.

E! News also reports that Tiger used to use an escort service where he would drop $30,000 to $40,000 each time he used it. So THAT’S what you do with all that money…

One of those alleged mistresses, Rachel Uchitel, is reportedly negotiating to do a spread in Playboy. If that happens, she would have gone from heartbreaking 9/11 widow to appearing nude in a men’s magazine. Some people really make the most of their 15 minutes.

But most of this you probably know. The real key here is that this is all Tiger’s own damn fault. And no, not just because he decided to cheat on his beautiful wife.

If the irritatingly private Tigre had decided to talk to police about the SUV incident that started this all, or at least issue a public statement where he made up a good story, perhaps this never would have happened. We still have no idea what really went down at 2:30 a.m. in his gated community in Florida, although it seems likely that he and his wife, Elin, got into a fight and she went all Jack Nicholson on him with a golf club. Good for you, Elin, by the way.

Tiger has always been the most terribly boring athlete on the planet because he never really says anything of value. He gives stock answers to every question, never reveals anything about his private life and only shows emotion when he shanks one on the fairway. El Tigre makes the cliché “take it one game at a time,” seem like a profoundly interesting and original statement.

And the truth is, I am happy that the world is crashing down on Tiger Woods. In fact, I’m downright giddy about it. Because punks like Tiger make my job (to get quotes and write good stories) much harder, and it finally backfired on him.

Imagine that Tiger had released a detailed statement about the incident at his home where he wrecked his SUV. His PR people could have made up a great story – perhaps something along the lines of: I woke up in the middle of the night to get some medicine for one of my kids, who was sick. I fell asleep while behind the wheel and wrecked the car. Elin panicked and started smashing windows to get me out, which woke me up. I’m sorry for the unintended embarrassment this has caused for my family.

Boom. OVER. Everybody thinks Tiger is a just a sweet but bumbling father, and his wife is panicky. He and Elin tell the same story to the police, and in a couple of weeks they do a funny interview with Diane Sawyer, which gets huge ratings. Everybody wins.

But no, Tiger did what he always does. He clammed up and didn’t even talk to police (which wasn’t required by law, but sure did look shady), and the press smelled a rat. When you don’t give reporters answers, they try to find out why.

People started wondering if this was about a story alleging Tiger was unfaithful (in the National Enquirer of all places) that coincidentally ran a few days before the incident. People kept digging, and all of a sudden it was apparent that Tiger might have more mistresses than Major Championships.

But even once the bottom dropped out on El Tigre, he could have been smart about it. He should have done a Kobe Bryant, who sat beside his wife, Vanessa, and admitted to being a philanderer in front of the organized media. Kobe was penitent, held his wife’s hand (despite the fact she probably wanted to strangle him), and later bought Vanessa a $4 million ring. Notice how we don’t talk much about that girl in Colorado these days?

Golf is the most individual of sports, and Tiger has been the reason for all of his successes on the course. But he is also the reason why all of this went horribly, horribly wrong for him. Aside from perhaps costing him his marriage, Tiger may also lose money out of this deal as sponsors flee his sinking ship. Gatorade recently announced it would be dropping its Tiger-themed sports drinks, but the company claims the decision was made months ago. Uh-huh. And I’m sure Brian Kelly has no interest in the Notre Dame job, either, right?

Of course, I can’t say I’m surprised about all of this. What else could you expect from a Stanford alum. On a side note, remind me who has the Axe again?

Torii Hunter and Ichiro Suzuki are consistently flawless fielders. Anyone who cannot achieve joy watching Hunter track down a rocket in the gap or isn’t floored by Ichiro’s m16a2 of a right arm doesn’t deserve love. The two have roamed outfields in relative obscurity for their careers. Yes, Ichiro is a rock star in Japan and parts of America. Hunter plays in Los Angeles for a perennial playoff contender. So what?

The Los Angles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of Earth of the Milky Way will always be a second class citizen to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And Seattle? Please. They will eventually play the San Francisco Giants in the World Series, and both teams will find a way to lose.

Obviously, both teams play on the West Coast. That really doesn’t help these players. And even though Hunter played for the Minnesota Twins for a decade, they really aren’t talked about. Doesn’t matter that they are regularly one of the most exiting teams in baseball.

These players, somehow, aren’t well-known. And that is just sad.

How do I back this up? Not empirically, that’s for damn sure.

It’s proven in who gets the advertising, and who gets the national recognition.

For one day each year, the All-Star game, casual fans a quick refresher on what these two are doing every day for their respective teams.

And then, they go back to toiling in virtual anonymity.

Should we feel sorry for them? Absolutely not.

Both are paid handsomely and get amazing health care to play a child’s game. Both are widely respected among their peers. Ichiro is a lock for the Hall of Fame, Hunter is getting there.

But that doesn’t change how sad it is that more people aren’t understanding and appreciating what these two do. If either of them played for the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees, they would be on the covers of video games. Their jerseys would be worn around the country by posers and ‘roided-up frat boys.

But maybe it’s good it’s like that. It keeps fans like us what makes us better than casual fans.

So congratulations to Ichiro and Hunter. I look forward to telling future generations about watching you two play the game with style, respect and hustle. (A preemptive “screw you” to all those who say since Ichiro rarely dives he isn’t gritty or doesn’t hustle.)

Thank you both for your energy and enthusiasm.

Johnson was also critical of Chiefs head coach Todd Haley, and was suspended for his conduct. But apparently, Johnson had completely worn out his welcome because the Chiefs outright released him today.

It’s been clear for a long time that Johnson is an arrogant jerk – although Priest Holmes put up insane numbers as the Chiefs’ leading tailback, Kansas City drafted Johnson in 2003 and almost immediately the young punk began to voice his desire to usurp Holmes. When Holmes got hurt in 2005, Johnson took over and never gave the job back.

Since then, Johnson has been arrested three times, each time after allegedly assaulting a woman in some fashion. He has always been a prickly character, but his production has fallen off in a huge way. After finishing first in the league in rushing in 2005 and second in 2006, he hasn’t gotten more than 900 rushing yards in a season since. Because of his size (six-foot-one and 230 lbs) and athletic ability, some contending team will undoubtedly pick Johnson up. But if he hasn’t learned a lesson about how to behave like a civilized person, he’s going to be joining the unemployment line again very soon.

Cedric Benson's mugshot for his second arrest as a Chicago Bear.

Cedric Benson vs. the Chicago Bears: If you paid any attention to football at all Sunday, you heard this one about a billion times. Running back Benson was the No. 4 overall pick for the Bears in 2005, and to call his time there tumultuous would be an understatement. Coach Lovie Smith never seemed willing to make him the featured back, and after some alcohol-related arrests Benson was released in 2008.

Benson never was convicted of any wrongdoing, but his career was seriously derailed. He signed a one-year contract with Cincinnati in 2008 for $520,000, and no one expected very much from him. But Benson played well, and got a two-year, $7 million contract from the Bengals last offseason.

So far in 2009, Benson leads the league in rushing and no doubt wanted to run roughshod over the Bears on Sunday – and apparently, the Bengals were happy to comply. They handed the rock to Benson 37 times and he did not disappoint, racking up 189 yards and a touchdown against the team that spurned him.

Benson is only 26 and hasn’t had too many carries over his career (789), so the Bengals appear to be in for some very productive seasons from No. 32. Especially if they play the Bears every year.

Alex Rodriguez vs. himself: Is there a more troubled superstar in sports than A-Rod? He has been criticized for being obsessed with his image, had a very public divorce from his wife Cynthia, admitted to using steroids and was widely ridiculed when Madonna reportedly said he had the “heart of a poet.”

Derek Jeter can finally call A-Rod his equal in October. Photo by Flickr user chris.ptacek

But the worst knock against A-Rod was his tendency to disappear in October. Rodriguez’s postseason career numbers were downright pathetic, and the man who plays on his left, Derek Jeter, casts a mighty big shadow. Jeter has been called “Mr. November” for his clutch postseason performances, while Rodriguez was once dropped to eighth in the batting order in a playoff game.

But A-Rod was a new man this postseason, and his bat was the most feared in the dangerous Yankee lineup. Rodriguez batted .400 in the ALCS, and was walked three times Sunday night in a pivotal Game 6. Twice this series A-Rod was walked intentionally in the ninth inning after he tied Game 2 with a long ball against erratic Angels closer Brian Fuentes.

Thanks to A-Rod’s bat and the pitching of C.C. Sabathia and Andy Pettite, the Yanks are going back to the Fall Classic for the first time since 2003. Watching his jubilation after the last out was recorded Sunday night, is there any doubt that no one in New York wanted the pennant as badly as he did? Rodriguez will still have to perform well in the World Series in order for the Yankee faithful to fully embrace him, but I don’t think anyone in the Bronx will be booing him again anytime soon.

Keith Brooking vs. the Atlanta Falcons: Sunday’s matchup between the 3-2 Cowboys and 4-1 Falcons was intriguing for many reasons. The Falcons looked unstoppable in their 45-10 dismantling of the 49ers two weeks ago, while the Cowboys looked anything but in a narrow 26-20 overtime victory in Kansas City.

But the rise of receiver Miles Austin (421 receiving yards, four touchdowns in the last two games) has propelled Tony Romo back into the pantheon of top quarterbacks, and Dallas was very impressive in a 37-21 victory over Atlanta. The Cowboy defense hassled and harassed quarterback Matt Ryan all day, and the Atlanta offense just never got going.

The game was of particular importance to Cowboy linebacker Keith Brooking. A native Georgian who went to college at Georgia Tech, Brooking spent 11 excellent years in Atlanta, where he was voted to the Pro Bowl five times and was an All-Pro selection twice. But the Falcons cut him loose in the offseason, and Brooking signed a three-year contract with the Cowboys. Unlike so many other athletes who give politically correct answers to reporters, Brooking did not mince words about facing the team he gave most of his career to.

“Obviously, it was a big game for me personally. I’d be lying if I told you it wasn’t,” Brooking told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We took it to them. We bloodied their noses, and then we stepped on them and kicked them to the ground. So that’s a good feeling.”

Brooking’s emotion was obvious on the sideline – the veteran linebacker hooped and hollered throughout the game, and had a huge grin on his face the entire fourth quarter when the game was already in hand.

This may not be his last chance to enact vengeance either – the Cowboys appear poised to make a run at the playoffs, so a rematch with the Falcons in January is a definite possibility. A message to Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey: If you see these guys again, I’d run all my plays away from Brooking.

And briefly, two others looking for revenge and redemption: Niner quarterback and NFL Draft bust Alex Smith played the second half of San Francisco’s game in Houston after Shaun Hill got the hook, and made the game close at the end. Overall, Smith had a pretty good game (118.6 quarterback rating) and played his way to a start next Sunday against Indianapolis. Will we finally see the emergence of the former No. 1 overall pick? Niner fans have heard this story before, and they know Smith has a way of teasing you with his brilliance, only to fall apart soon after. He won’t have many more chances to prove himself, so it’s put up or shut up time for Smith.

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan led his team to a 38-0 pounding of the Raiders, but the game had special significance to his family and his assistants. The Raiders previously fired Jets line coach Bill Callahan (Raider head coach from 2002-03) and Rex’s twin brother Rob (defensive coordinator from 2004-08), and Ryan admitted in his postgame comments that it was a significant win for both him and Callahan. Al Davis’ list of enemies just keeps getting longer and longer…

Well there must be something in the water, because now Richard Seymour has lost his damn mind, too.

Where the crazy folks go to have play time. Photo by Flickr user scotrail.

The defensive end was on a Cincinnati radio show Wednesday (who the hell knows why he’s on a show in Cincinnati when the Raiders play New York this week), and he boldly proclaimed that the Raiders will make the playoffs. Not in 2015, or even next year – he expects to playing in January this season.

“You can mark it down,” he told Bengals home station 1530 the Homer. “The Raiders will be in the playoffs in 2009.”

Now there was an extremely good-looking and intelligent blogger who predicted this same thing before the season started (cough, me, cough), but that was before we witnessed the complete regression of Russell and the beat-downs issued by the Texans, Giants and Broncos. The Silver and Black miraculously beat the Eagles 13-9 on Sunday (which pretty much made my week), but you have to call it an aberration until they can repeat the performance.

And that’s not to say the performance was particularly impressive – because it wasn’t. The offense was still terrible, and the Raiders had to punt twice in the fourth quarter when a long drive could have put the game away. The defense did play very well, mostly due to the blitz packages the team suddenly implemented. Oakland has consistently been a team that doesn’t blitz much, but linebackers, safeties and even cornerbacks were flying towards Donovan McNabb on Sunday. Did Mr. Davis approve of the change in plans? Who knows. But I can’t imagine he wouldn’t want to see it again after his precious Raiders actually won a game.

But let’s humor Seymour – after all, he’s already contributed four sacks this year, so it’s the least I can do. Is his dream actually possible?

Currently, the AFC West appears not to be a winnable division. Although the heavily overrated Chargers are struggling (as I predicted they would), the Denver Broncos have surprisingly become formidable contenders. Denver is sitting at 6-0, which is probably going to be an insurmountable lead for the 2-4 Raiders to overcome.

The good news for the delusional is that no second-place teams in the AFC have started out as hot as Denver. Only one non-division leader has a record better than 3-3 (the 4-2 Pittsburgh Steelers), so a Wild Card berth is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

Oakland has some very winnable games left, starting with this week against a reeling Jets team. The Raiders could also beat division foes San Diego and Kansas City, and the pathetic Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns.

If Oakland could manage all that (a very, very big IF), it would only put the Raiders at seven wins, and they’re not likely to get to the playoffs with less than nine. So they’d have to win two of the games against Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Denver, Dallas or Baltimore. Those teams have a combined record of 20-9.

The suffering Raider Nation really deserves the respectability a return to the playoffs would bring, but it’s not a realistic goal. If Seymour re-signs in the offseason and Oakland can get some help on the offensive line, we can talk about the playoffs next year. It may be the last chance for us to see the Oakland Raiders make a Super Bowl run.

Dang it, I forgot my favorite body wash in Los Angeles!

In the top of the ninth inning of Game 4 between the Phillies and Dodgers Monday, Jonathon Broxton was heaving 101 mph fastballs at hitters, trying desperately to keep Los Angeles alive in the postseason. Somehow, someway, shortstop Jimmy Rollins managed to turn on a 99 mph heater, doubling in the game-tying and game-winning runs in one quick, Dodger-killing, monumentally clutch moment. This you probably already know. But do you know where Manny Ramirez was?

Taking a shower.

No, really. Taking a shower.

Juan Pierre had replaced the big louse in the top of the ninth for defensive purposes. While you and I were sitting at home hanging on every pitch, Manny didn’t even care enough to sit in the dugout and watch with his teammates. He was out of the game, so he went to take a shower.

For God’s sakes, Manny, can’t you just pretend to care? Is the real reason you bounced early that you needed to take some more fertility drugs in your attempts to get pregnant? That would be better for your image at this point.

The Dodgers have a young team in need of leadership, and Manny is exactly the type of veteran that could have a major impact on his squad. He’s got Hall of Fame numbers, is a two-time champion and has come up with some big hits in his career. But instead of boosting team morale in the final moments of their season (I know the series is 3-1, but Rollins effectively ended it Monday night), Manny went to spend some quality time with his loofah.

Manny told reporters Tuesday that he caught the highlights after the game. So some producers on ESPN and Fox actually saw the demise of his team before he did. I bet the putz was all smiles as his teammates walked in and probably asked, “Hey fellas, how’d we do?”

You make $20 million a year to play a game that so many would play for free, and you can’t stick around for 20 extra minutes? You’re an absolute disgrace, Manuel.