Muhammad cornerback attempts

californ football
californ football traditions
2016
The Big C has stood proud on
Charter Hill above California
Memorial Stadium since 1905.
The Big Game held annually
between Cal and Stanford
is tied for the sixth-longest
active running series in college
football and tied for the eighthlongest
series overall with the
119th edition to be played
at Kabam Field at California
Memorial Stadium in 2016.
The Stanford Axe is a trophy
awarded to the winner.
The official colors of the
University of California were
established at Berkeley in 1868
and chosen by the University’s
founders. Cal teams have
donned the blue and gold since
1882.
Cal Spirit Groups are
responsible for promoting
all spirit-related activities at
home events with the Rally
Committee the oldest student
group on campus.
The Cal student section is at
the 50-yard line and among
the loudest, most boisterous
and enthusiastic in the nation.
The California Letterman’s
Club serves as the football
alumni association and was
formerly known as the Sons of
California.
The Cal rooting section is
credited with establishing
card student performances
beginning with the 1910 Big
Game, a rugby match between
Cal and Stanford.
The Cal track and field team
carried a blue silk banner
emblazoned with a golden
grizzly bear, the symbol of the
state of California, on a historic
eight-meet tour throughout
the Midwest and East in 1985
that many historians credit
for putting Cal Athletics on
the national scene. Professor
Charles Mills Gayley was
inspired to write the song “The
Golden Bear” and Cal athletic
teams have been known as the
Golden Bears ever since.
Oski has been Cal’s official
mascot since 1941.
Pappy’s Boys is an organization
of more than 500 former Cal
football players who played
under legendary coach Lynn
“Pappy” Waldorf. The group
has raised funds for three of
the most recent additions to
campus – Waldorf kneeling near
Faculty Glade, a giant grizzly
bear by Memorial Stadium and
the most recent last year with
the installation of the Pappy’s
Boys Bench outside of Gate 4.
The two songs regularly heard
during Cal football games are
“Big C” and “Hail to California”.
The California Marching Band
has been one of the best bands
in the nation for over 125
years.
The California Victory Cannon
presented by the Rally
Committee in 1963 is fired at
the beginning of every home
game, each time the Golden
Bears score and after every
home win.
Cal began a new tradition in
2002 with March To Victory,
a human tunnel comprised of
fans and the Cal Spirit Groups
who greet the team upon their
arrival outside of California
Memorial Stadium.
The Play is a five-lateral, 57-
yard kickoff return with no time
remaining that lifted Cal to a
25-20 victory in the 1982 Big
Game and considered by many
to be the most famous play in
the history of college football.
*Additional information on Cal
football traditions on page 210.