They called him Bruce

I don't want to turn this into the Blog of Death, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention two other sports figures who recently passed. The first got big headlines in the mainstream media, because Harry Kalas was one of their own. Kalas, by the way, attended my high school, which I had forgotten until I read one of his obituaries. I really only knew Kalas from his work for NFL Films, and I'm wondering if a voice exists that will be able to adequately follow Kalas and John Facenda.

The second was much more meaningful to me. Longtime college football coach Bruce Snyder succumbed to cancer after a 10-month battle. Snyder, best known for coaching a Jake Plummer-led Arizona State team to an undefeated regular season in 1996, was responsible for approximately 90% of the non-pot-related fun of my freshman year at UC-Berkeley in his role as Cal's head football coach. Coming off a 7-4-1 season in 1990 in which the Bears made only their second bowl appearance since 1958, the consensus for 1991 was that Cal might be able to match that success. Having come from Big 10 country -- where the only Pac-10 teams of relevance were UCLA and USC and maybe, on occasion, Washington -- I didn't really know what to expect from Cal football.

So when Cal scored 51 points in the first half of my first ever game, well, I officially became a huge Bruce Snyder fan. I remember thinking, "HOLY SHIT! They're going to score a hundred!" When they were at 79 points in the third, I really thought it. Alas, Snyder -- who had been playing reserves liberally throughout -- completely called off the dogs, and Cal hung on for an 86-24 season-opening win over Pacific. Needless to say, I was hooked. For life.

That year the Golden Bears exceeded all expectations, and 1991 would go down as one of the best in seasons in Cal history.* Led by QB Mike Pawlawski -- like Ron Jaworski before him, nicknamed the Polish Rifle -- the Bears would better the 40 point mark five times on the year. They topped USC for the first time in eons. And didn't just win against the Trojans, they annihilated them, opening up a 38-point lead before the scrubs allowed a pair of late touchdowns in a 52-30 win. With only a 24-17 loss to unbeaten Washington, the Bears looked like a sure bet to play in a major bowl. But despite a 9-1 record -- in those days, bowl bids went out before a team's final game -- they were ignored by the big boys and had to settle for the Florida Citrus, at the time a pseudo-big deal as a New Years' Day bowl.

* In reality, the 1991 season was almost identical to 2004. Both teams finished 10-2, but the similarities run much deeper than that. The 1991 team lost to eventual national champion Washington 24-17, ending the game unable to score from inside the Husky 10. In 2004, Cal lost to eventual national champion USC 23-17, failing to score from inside the Trojan 10 in the final seconds. For both teams, that would be their only loss going into bowl bids. I repeat. Both teams were up for bowl bids with just a single blemish, a nip-and-tuck, touchdown-or-less loss to an undefeated team ranked #1 or #2. But in 1991, Cal got screwed out of the Sugar Bowl, which instead opted for a three-loss Notre Dame squad. In 2004, the Bears got hosed out of the Rose Bowl, in favor of Texas. Like Cal, the Longhorns had but one loss, also at the hands of an unbeaten team. But Texas got shut out by #2 Oklahoma on a neutral site. Cal lost by 6 on the road to #1 USC.

Neither Cal team reacted well to its snub. The 1991 squad went out and laid an egg in the Big Game, getting steamrolled by Stanford 38-21. Meanwhile, in 2004, the Bears were pounded by Texas Tech 45-31 in the Holiday Bowl. Each loss served to validate the snubs -- and make the subsequent outrage seem unjustified -- but there is no doubt in my mind that both were truly great teams that deserved better. As college athletes -- kids, really -- they simply didn't respond well to the injustice perpetrated on them. Just like their fanbase.

Other than failing to show up for the Big Game following the bowl snub -- the major stain on Snyder's Cal resume was his inability to beat Stanford, against whom he went 0-4-1 -- the Bears played exceptionally well that season, capping it by demolishing Clemson 37-13 in the Booby Prize Bowl. They ended up #8 in the AP poll and #7 in the coaches', their highest final rankings since 1950.

Unfortunately, 1991 would be Snyder's last with the Bears, as he left for the greener pastures of Arizona State when Cal refused to pony up the big bucks to keep him. That ushered in a dismal era of Cal football -- with a single promising season of Steve Mariucci breaking up the dregs of Keith Gilbertson and Tom Holmoe-led teams -- before Jeff Tedford mercifully came aboard.

So I only had that one year with Snyder, and I don't have any personal anecdotes about him or anything. Though when he left I remember thinking, We'll still be good, we've got all those guys coming back. But despite the return of Russell White, Sean Dawkins, and a host of defensive standouts, the Bears slumped to 4-7 in 1992 under Gilbertson's direction. And the dream was over; between the time Snyder left and Tedford showed up, Cal enjoyed only one winning season (1993). I'm not certain that Snyder could have built the program into a semi-power the way Tedford has, but it sure looked like he was breaking through. Instead, we all had to watch the team crumble, and I was left wondering What if.

Bruce Snyder was 69, more than 10 years younger than Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno. Last season could have been his 22nd in Berkeley, and I wonder if he ever missed us as much as we missed him. And I want to thank Coach Snyder for some unbelievable wins and one of the best years of my life. Go Bears.