[teejers1]

I'm genuinely bummed about that.  Rivera went to Seaside HS in Monterey, common for the sons and daughters of Fort Ord personnel (Ron's dad was an officer).  We played basketball against Seaside.  One of our players, nicknamed "Huey" was 6'9" and 280 pounds, and became a lineman in the NFL years later.  When a shot went up in that game, it was those two guys battling for the rebound and eight other guys looking for a reason to be anywhere but near the basketball. 

And he was a worthy opponent at Cal.  And by worthy, I mean he wasn't anything like Albert Dorsey, Mariet Ford, Damariay Drew, Tracy Slocum or Mike Pawlawski.  He was a decent guy.

Agree about Rivera.

Maybe we can turn this thread into athletes who competed for Cal that we admire (enthusiastically or begrudgingly).  I'll start with a couple:

1.  Tony Gonzalez - two sport stud; showed great sense of humor at hoops game at Maples when student section did a "Clap, Clap, Fum-ble" cheer (recalling the Gonzalez fumble late that allowed Stanford to win BG).  Plus, he is a good TV announcer, and I absolutely LOVED reading that Gonzalez takes his family every summer on a trip to some interesting place on the globe so the family can get some history and general edification (wish I did that with my family).

2.  Russell White, the Cal RB who overcame Prop 48 (dyslexia-related, IIRC) and earned his Cal degree.  That showed some  real internal fortitude and desire to pursue an achievement that is not rewarded with much in material sense.  Oh yeah, he was a helluva football player, too.  He and Milburn put on a show for the ages in the Revenge of the Play year.

I am sure there are many others, but those two pop immediately to mind.

P.S.  Kevin Johnson, the super-quick guard for Bears (and later Suns) was pretty amazing to watch and hard to dislike.  He just played.  Really, really well.  He also got into politics, IIRC, in Arizona (?) after his playing days.

[teejers1]

I'm genuinely bummed about that.  Rivera went to Seaside HS in Monterey, common for the sons and daughters of Fort Ord personnel (Ron's dad was an officer).  We played basketball against Seaside.  One of our players, nicknamed "Huey" was 6'9" and 280 pounds, and became a lineman in the NFL years later.  When a shot went up in that game, it was those two guys battling for the rebound and eight other guys looking for a reason to be anywhere but near the basketball. 

And he was a worthy opponent at Cal.  And by worthy, I mean he wasn't anything like Albert Dorsey, Mariet Ford, Damariay Drew, Tracy Slocum or Mike Pawlawski.  He was a decent guy.

Agree about Rivera.

Maybe we can turn this thread into athletes who competed for Cal that we admire (enthusiastically or begrudgingly).  I'll start with a couple:

1.  Tony Gonzalez - two sport stud; showed great sense of humor at hoops game at Maples when student section did a "Clap, Clap, Fum-ble" cheer (recalling the Gonzalez fumble late that allowed Stanford to win BG).  Plus, he is a good TV announcer, and I absolutely LOVED reading that Gonzalez takes his family every summer on a trip to some interesting place on the globe so the family can get some history and general edification (wish I did that with my family).

2.  Russell White, the Cal RB who overcame Prop 48 (dyslexia-related, IIRC) and earned his Cal degree.  That showed some  real internal fortitude and desire to pursue an achievement that is not rewarded with much in material sense.  Oh yeah, he was a helluva football player, too.  He and Milburn put on a show for the ages in the Revenge of the Play year.

I am sure there are many others, but those two pop immediately to mind.

P.S.  Kevin Johnson, the super-quick guard for Bears (and later Suns) was pretty amazing to watch and hard to dislike.  He just played.  Really, really well.  He also got into politics, IIRC, in Arizona (?) after his playing days.