Sports
It Was the Best Day of His Life. Then Everything Changed.
Six months after receiving his ALS diagnosis, ex-football star Eric Stevens is in the biggest battle of his life. The Big Game of 2010 didn’t start off well for Cal fullback Eric Stevens. The Bears lost to Stanford, 48–14. But on his way back to his apartment he ran into Amanda Glass. They stopped and […]
Silent Star: Marshawn Lynch a No-Show in New Film About His Life
David Shields was having a good night. His new film, a biographical documentary about retired running back and former Cal phenomenon Marshawn Lynch, had just screened to a packed and enthusiastic house at The New Parkway Theater in downtown Oakland. Now he was joined at the front of the theatre for a Q&A by former […]
Elite Athletes and the Pregnancy Penalty
Track star Alysia Montaño takes on the Man.
Get Your Head in the Game: A Thinking Fan’s Guide to Baseball
How to watch baseball like a philosopher I arrive at Evans Diamond on a chilly Friday night, find a bleacher seat among the 400-plus fans in attendance, put my phone on airplane mode, and pull out my scorebook. This is not my usual ballpark routine, but tonight I’m determined to watch this game through new […]
WATCH: On the Line with Asha Thomas
WATCH: Girl on Tower
Freestylin’: Coach Teri McKeever on How to Swim Like a Girl
From her office in Haas Pavilion, Teri McKeever can look down on Spieker pool. She’s been known to yell out the windows if things aren’t going the way she wants—just one of the many ways she’s distinguished herself over three decades of coaching at Cal. The 27-year head coach of the UC Berkeley women’s swimming […]
Big Changes Ahead: Q&A with Cal’s New Athletic Director
26-year Army veteran Jim Knowlton wants to make major changes at Cal Athletics in the next year. In May, new UC Berkeley Athletic Director Jim Knowlton took over a tough job, spearheading a department in upheaval. Cal Athletics currently finds itself burdened with about $439 million in debt from the Memorial Stadium renovation, including millions […]
Necessary Roughness
A century ago, football was in big trouble. History has a way of repeating. It was a sunny November Saturday at California Field and the stands brimmed with 20,000 boisterous fans. Banners waved, blue-and-gold streamers unfurled, and the usual cheers of “Oski Wow Wow! Whiskey Wee Wee!” went up as players took the field. Until […]
Locker Room Talk with the Boys of the Berkeley Gazette
Once upon a time, Berkeley had its own daily newspaper, the Berkeley Gazette, and for a brief, semi-glorious moment, it had two sports-reporting brothers.
Tri as They Might…Do Triathletes Need the NCAA?
This weekend, the NCAA’s newest “Emerging Sport for Women,” varsity triathlon, will be holding the Women’s Collegiate National Championships in Tempe, Arizona. But the 75 women racing the sprint triathlon aren’t NCAA athletes. And triathlon isn’t an NCAA sport—at least not yet.
Always a Maverick: Cynthia Marshall Made Her Mark Before Dallas
In February, Cynthia Marshall took over as CEO of the Dallas Mavericks—becoming the first African-American female CEO in the NBA. She also inherited an organization in crisis, after a Sports Illustrated story revealed rampant sexual harassment, incidents of domestic abuse, and a toxic culture. But Marshall, a lifelong pioneer, is familiar with navigating difficult situations. […]
