A Strange Plea to the Roundball Deities

So we caught Oregon on a savage rebound yesterday, after they had their worst shooting game in years Thursday against Stanford. It wasn't pretty. The Ducks were in search of redemption and fortune smiled on their efforts with an absurdly good percentage from behind the arc in the second half. Who is Cal's next opponent? Arizona. At one point in the first half, the Wildcats were leading Arizona State 22-6. But the Sun Devils rallied impressively and Arizona started to look like the ghost of last year's team. Now Arizona State is up ten with less than seven minutes to go. Oh, gods of basketball, please find a way to make the Wildcats rediscover the art of defense so that they can pull off a comeback win! Because if you don't, my Bears will be screwed yet again. And I can only take so much pain right now. It's bad enough that I have to make a public plea for you to intercede on behalf of bearing down instead of bearing up. So, once again, I implore you!

On the Other Hand

At least UCLA lost to a team that Cal defeated last week, a team that was badly beaten by USC, another team the Bears defeated. The Pac-10 is insane this year. And pretty good, if you ask me, even though UCLA seems like the only legitimate threat to make it past the Sweet Sixteen at this point. Just once, though, I'd like to see Cal come down here to Tucson and win before I move on to pastures that are -- literally and figuratively -- more verdant.