NCAA Football San Francisco

During his senior season at Concord De La Salle High School last fall, quarterback Nate Montana didn't exactly set the world on fire. He was the third-stringer, and he finished the season 12-of-19 for 166 yards and one touchdown passing, plus 33 yards on 17 carries running.

But when your dad is Joe Montana, maybe the greatest quarterback ever to play the game, people look at you and see potential. So 30 years after Joe Montana's senior season at Notre Dame, Nate Montana is following in his footsteps and will be a walk-on for the Fighting Irish. Joe says there was no pressure on his end:

"In the end I told him, 'Look, don't go to school for me, don't go to school for mom, you got to do what you got to do and go to the school you'll be happiest at if football doesn't work out,'" Joe Montana says, "and he chose Notre Dame."

Although some Notre Dame fans will be excited just to see the name "Montana" on the roster, it's certainly not realistic to think that Nate can be the kind of player his father was, and it's probably not even realistic to think Nate will play in anything more than mop-up duty. Then again, Joe Montana came to South Bend as the seventh-string quarterback. Things turned out OK for him.

Usually when College Football fans hear "blackout" they think of some Thursday night football game in the Big East or ACC where the home team wears all-black jerseys and ask all the fans to don black to the night game as well.

In the case of the October 20th UCLA-Cal game, the words "black out" will have a whole new meaning. Former Google spokesman and environmental activist Nate Tyler is asking everyone in San Francisco to go without electricity for one hour between 8 PM and 9 PM that Saturday night.

If the game is selected as ABC's West Coast game of the week--which is likely since USC will be playing on the Notre-Dame Broadcasting Channel and this game will determine second place in the Pac Ten--that 8 PM to 9 PM time slot will coincide with the game's Fourth Quarter. Not that it matters. Winner goes to the Holiday Bowl.

Environmental Hippiness and the Cal Bears Previously On Fanhouse:
Wonderful Treetards Allowed to Remain in Precious, Irreplacable Old Forest
What Y'all Doin' in That Tree? and Other Lingering SEC Questions, Week 1
Cal's Hippiegate Gets Worse
Cal Held Hostage By Hippies: Hupdate
Hippies Block Cal Stadium Expansion

California quarterback Nate Longshore returned to practice for the California Golden Bears and according to the official press release, was feeling good about his new leadership role for the team. "I feel real healthy," Longshore said. "The off-season did a lot for me and did a lot for the team especially -- we're a lot closer as a unit."

But the real story wasn't about Longshore's play on the field--apparently he's been spending some extra time in Bay Area hair salons during the off-season. The quarterback has dyed his hair various shades of blue, "from Seabreeze to Indigo," for Fall Camp.

Now I have heard of people keeping salt-and-pepper in their hair in order to gain respect and look older, but going for a blue-hair look seems a bit of a stretch. Since Cal has closed practice to the public and severely restricts still and video photography for press access, we have an exclusive FanHouse artist's rendering of what Longshore might look like.

Longshore says he is planning to return to his natural blonde by the season opener. Who knew there was such a thing as a natural blonde?!?

California transfer Nyan Boateng hadn't even left Gainesville for Berkeley before he found trouble, as the future Golden Bear wide receiver was arrested last week and "charged with burglary residence, battery and criminal mischief," according to the Contra Costa Times.

The former Florida Gator--and the only one in the Cal program who can claim a National Championship--allegedly attempted to enter a former girlfriend's residence last Thursday, was refused entry then kicked the door in.

Cal Head Coach Jeff Tedford is "aware of the situation" and has suspended Boateng from all team activities while he "gathers more information." Even if he had stayed on the good side of the law, the transfer would have had to sit out the 2007 season, so the news has little impact on the program other than the schadenfreude felt by Stanford alumni.