A “BIG GAME” FOR THE AGES: #21 STANFORD vs. #6 CALIFORNIA, 11/23/1991

             There are truly days of Camelot in college football for their players and fans, and as corny as this sounds, sometimes they have fairy tale happy endings as well, especially if it is for your favorite team.

             On 11/23/1991, the Stanford vs. California “Big Game” was the first time in history that both #21 Stanford and #6 California were ranked in the same season and was also the first time the Big Game would be nationally televised in the prime time slot on ABC.  It was a day I will never forget, and as the brother of one of the heroes of this fairy tale story, I would like to tell you my tale through my eyes, from start to finish: So sit back, grab a beer or glass of chocolate milk, and relax and enjoy my story. Before I begin, I need to give a little background as to why this game was so epic.

             ONCE UPON A TIME, in a land far, far away in the West, the Pac-10 was absolutely stacked with tough teams all throughout that 1991 season. The Washington Huskies went on to be the undefeated  #1 1991 National Champions that year, and Stanford, UCLA, and California all ended their seasons ranked in the top 25.

             Stanford began their 1991 season unranked and with one of the toughest schedules in the nation, having to play defending national champion Colorado and highly ranked Notre Dame for their non-conference opponents, in addition to their own cannibalizing conference. Their season started on a horrific note, getting pummeled at home by Washington, 42-7, followed by a loss to unranked Arizona, (on a Dick Tomey last minute fake field goal in Tucson.)  Their next opponent was  the defending national champion and highly ranked Colorado, where Stanford showed true grit and what a great team they had, by upsetting the highly favored Buffaloes 28-21 on the Farm. This huge upset win was short lived, as Stanford once again fell to highly ranked Notre Dame the next week. Sitting at 1-3, the Cardinal’s season looked bleak with road trips to USC, Oregon, Drew Bledsoe and Washington State, and with ranked UCLA and  eventually arch rival Cal visiting Stanford to close out the season. But Stanford had an incredible mid-season  gut  check  and won  6 straight games and earned a # 21 ranking before the Cal game and were one of the hottest teams in the country. The showdown was set between 8-3 Stanford and 9-1 California.

            The Cal Bears started their season red hot, and bullied and spanked every team they played all season, their only blemish a loss to #1 Washington, a game they darn near won in Berkeley. The Bears were crass, confident and cocky.

            I had no idea how heated and how much hatred there was between these two teams and their fans. On the field, Brian Treggs boastfully stated that he would “live in Palo Alto” if the Bears lost to Stanford and Mike Pawlawski  said “I hate Stanford and every thing it stands for. All they do is spend their daddy’s money." Bob Whitfield, Stanford’s anchor on the offensive line, when asked about Tregg’s statement candidly retorted, “He sucks! They may be 9-1, but we are going to bust them up.” Prior to pre-game warm ups, the two teams met at midfield, pointing, strutting and yelling at each other similar the same hatred I saw in that movie Colors, when all the Crips and Bloods converged at the bars in the LA county jail while showing their "colors."

          This hatred the players had for each other spilled over into their fans as well.  I saw countless T-shirts Cal fans wore that exclaimed such lovely things as “STANFUCK” and “FUCK STANFORD.” There were even more brazen displays, as Cal fans defaced a Stanford statue on campus by painting it blue and yellow, and even put a Cal baseball cap on it. They also stenciled yellow painted bear claws all over the stucco walls on the Stanford campus, which both of these acts of vandalism were covertly done in the wee hours of the night before. But when I REALLY saw the true hatred, was prior to the game: Stanford was doing their traditional walk from the Stanford locker room to the stadium called “The Walk,” when these drunken and cowardly Cal fans came to the chain link fence and screamed insulting expletives and threw beer on the Stanford players. The hype and bad blood leading up to this game was a buzz you could feel all throughout the stadium.

               Once inside, all 88,000 fans were sporting their colors as well: Half the stadium was in navy blue and gold, and the other half was in cardinal-red and white. It was a picture perfect, azure skied afternoon at Stanford Stadium and the atmosphere was absolutely electric. Finally, when it was time for kick off, there was a tide of deafening crowd noise that crescendoed when the kicker's foot finally kicked off the 94th meeting between these two schools. The Big Game had officially begun.

               I am going to spare you the play-by play-here and let you see the fantastic highlight video on the link below for yourself which tells what the 88,000 Cal and Stanford fans saw that day. (Simply copy the link below and paste into your browser address window.) What I WILL share with you, however,  are some things I saw personally and within our inner circle.

                Our family, as per tradition before every home game, would go see my brother Tommy at his hotel room prior to his getting on the bus. When I saw him, he had the look of the  “thousand yard stare”. He was almost in a robotic and trance-like state, with this expression of intensity. I have never seen him so focused on what would transpire in the next 5 hours or so. My dad, who played football at Colorado and knows a little about pre-game jitters and intensity himself, was also a trifle bit concerned. He perfectly described Tommy's state as he said, "He looks and feels like a wooden Indian." There was no doubt that this Indian and Cardinal named Tommy Vardell was ready to play: When I saw him later lead his team on “The Walk” into the stadium prior to the game, I extended my fist out to  give him a little non-verbal "fist bump" for good luck as I always do; when his fist hit mine, it felt like an anvil. (This must have been like what Apollo Creed felt when Ivan Drago from Rocky 4 bumped gloves with him prior to his last and fatal fight.) 

               All the Stanford player's families had a very tight knit group who tailgated together, traveled together, watched the games together, and either celebrated victories together or consoled each other in defeat. That day I had my mom and dad, but what made it extra special was I had my two uncles Steve and Don and my cousin Blake who flew in from Texas, my aunt Patty from Colorado, and the great folks like the Baurs, the Lynches and the Whitfields just to name a few at the tailgate and to watch the game with. John Lynch's dad who owned the Mighty 690 in San Diego always through these incredible tailgates, which is where I got the nickname "Tailgatin' Teddy" after "Touchdown Tommy" was coined.

                OK, back to the game. I have NEVER been that nervous as a spectator, especially after all those Saturdays watching that "other" team across the bay all season long and knowing how great they were. But my worry soon turned to delight, as the #21 Stanford Cardinal spanked the #6 Cal Bears 38-21 at the Farm and and beat the Bears with old school smash mouth football. As a fan and spectator at the 50 yard line, to this day, it is the most spectacular football game I have ever seen. I have never been more proud of #44 RB Tommy Vardell, and all his great team mates like TE #83 Turner Baur, G #65 Brian Cassidy,  T #70 Bob Whitfield,  RB #5 Glyn Milburn, RB #26 JJ Lasley, TE #88 Paul Nickel, #18 QB Steve Stenstrom and all those other great players that played stellar on that magical afternoon. ALL of them played the game like a team of pissed off Ents, just like in the movie The Two Towers, as they stomped and smashed the Bears into whimpering bear cubs. Trees indeed.

                 Tommy played like a locomotive at full steam and was like the Energizer Bunny on methamphetamine the entire game, as #44 was unstoppable. I have never been so proud of my brother and his 183 yards and 3 touchdowns. Touchdown Tommy closed out his Stanford season in a happy ending  fairy tale. After the game, with a torn up jersey and blood running down his arm, he was truly the hero riding off into the sunset on the shoulder pads of his fellow Stanford warriors. The axe stayed in Palo Alto yet again.

                To end this story, after gleefully hugging all of my family and Stanford friends after the game, to my parents horror, I, in the spirit of my fellow Cal fans, purchased and wore a "FUCK CAL" T-shirt the rest of the evening and to the celebration at Pudley's that night. Tommy got a standing ovation when we walked in to Pudley's but to this day, I tell everybody it was Tailgatin' Teddy and my "FUCK CAL" T-shirt that got the standing ovation. GO TREES!!!!!! BEAT CAL!!!!! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liO4n7rortg

PETS ON POT!!!! A SAD STORY OF CANINES ABUSING CANNABIS IN COLORADO

          The legalization of marijuana here in Colorado has opened up the doggie door on an epidemic of “bad dog behavior” which  is deeply troubling to dog owners all across the state. There have been countless reports of rebellion, disobedience, apathy, and in some cases fatalities; (and yes, tragically, even suspected suicides.) Like their human masters, a great deal of the canine population are now addicted to marijuana use every day, and the horrific consequences are far worse than any humane society or dog owner could have ever envisioned. Dogs can now get their paws on pot infused edible treats that are known in the cannabis canine community with such  slang terms  as “Beggin’ Buds,” “Doggie Dreamz,” “Kanine Kannabis Krunch,” and many other brands of THC infused treats made by humans. Some of these doobie dogs have even figured out how to get into their master’s stash, getting high by drinking bong water,  or smoking or ingesting carelessly placed joints and pipes, or even bags of pot left on the coffee table. Formerly sweet natured, alert, perky dogs have become careless, apathetic, lazy and lethargic. Hopefully this report will help dog owners see what the warning signs are that your dog is abusing marijuana. WARNING: what you are about to read is extremely shocking and sad.

----An 8-year-old Boston Terrier named Spunky died at his home of an apparent lethal case of cotton mouth where he choked to death on an opened and almost full bag of Family Size Nacho Cheese Doritos. The dog's owner, a heavy pot user himself, forgot about the chips he carelessly left on the coffee table and also forgot to fill up Spunky’s water bowl. Spunky was found dead with a giant wad of half eaten and ingested dry Doritos in his mouth and esophagus. Spunky apparently died of extreme dehydration and accidental inhalation of Dorito crumbs. An autopsy showed that Spunky had enough THC in him to get 4 Saint Bernards stoned off their asses and was so dehydrated, that the chewed Doritos had hardened into a cement like ball in his mouth, blocking his air passage which resulted in death from asphyxiation.

----A 9-year-old Chow–Chow named Charlie apparently got a hold of a bag of Kannabis Krunch his owner had carelessly left out and ate the entire bag, over 6 times the amount of the recommended dosage for edibles. Charlie was so stoned, that his already naturally beady eyes were completely swollen shut and he couldn’t see, but yet he escaped his backyard and carelessly walked right out in front of a speeding Greyhound bus while pursuing the tasty smells of a BBQ cart across the street. Charlie was killed instantly and an autopsy said he had copious amounts of THC in his blood and fur…Apparently Charlie had a long history of marijuana abuse and it is believed his munchie cravings  led him blindly into the street, not that he committed suicide by bus, as several witnesses first reported seeing Charlie casually cross the extremely busy street. The owner said it was "a total bummer" of what happened.

---- A 5-year-old Labrador named Larry was at one time a energetic ball of fire who loved chasing a tennis ball and Frisbee at the park and would start barking and wagging his tail enthusiastically the minute he saw either of them being held by his master. He also loved to”shake” and do tricks…Apparently, the owner noticed that  Larry was oversleeping and napping all the time, and showed  total apathy and zero tail wagging when the owner would bring out his Frisbee or tennis ball and would only lie back down in front of the TV when the owner  asked him to do tricks. It worried his owner so much that he took Larry to the park to see if that might lift his spirits. Larry immediately left his master and wandered  over to another group of doggie dudes playing hacky sack, where he stayed for hours as he rebelliously wouldn’t respond to his master’s commands. Finally, Larry had to be put in counseling and obedience school where it was reported he had been truant numerous times and was finally caught by the animal control. While incarcerated, a blood test showed high amounts of THC in his blood.

-----A spry and apparently happy 2-year-old Cocker Spaniel named Sparky apparently ran right out in front of a speeding Fed Ex truck on the highway, committing suicide for no apparent reason. Sparky was completely flattened and had to be scraped off the road for an autopsy where his fur confirmed heavy pot use. The owner said "yeah man, I was smoking a doobie with Sparky when he totally flipped out and started barking and whining and sprinted out in front of that Fed Ex truck."

----- A sweet natured obedient 7-year-old Australian Shepherd named Sammy was fed several marijuana and THC infused CBD treats for his paw pain, and apparently jumped right out the driver's side window of his owner's 1971 WW bus when Sammy smelled the delicious aromas from a street side hot dog cart vendor. Sammy was flattened by an oncoming petroleum truck as he sprinted across the busy street to get a hot dog treat. It was reported as an accident and an autopsy was performed that showed Sammy had 10 times the legal limit of THC in his blood. The owner said his "eyes were totally bogus", and he had thought he was giving him only 10 milligrams when in fact he was accidentally giving Sammy 100 milligrams for his pain each night. The owner has since purchased a pair of John Lennon reading glasses.

----A 15 year old Chihuahua named Paco smokes pot every single day and will not go to bed until his master plays him side one of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and feeds him an entire bag of Beggin’ Strips Dog Jerky. During the day, Paco does nothing but watch reruns of Scooby Doo and Tom and Jerry cartoons.

            These are only a handful of countless reported incidents that our dog population in Colorado are becoming a generation of Canine Cannabis Creatures. Drug experts believe that horses, cats, pigs, and other animals will be lured into this sad stoned state: Pun intended. Let’s stop this before it becomes a national epidemic. Vote NO on legalizing pot for pets!!!!!!!!!!