Mr. Jones and the Bears

Without people like him, the game wouldn't be Big.

If Joe Igber dives into the end zone with less than a minute left in the game and nobody is there to see it, does it really happen?

Sportscenter, multimillion-dollar contracts and a whole section of this newspaper would not exist if it weren't for the fan.

Cal fans, their numbers growing with every graduating class, are an unfortunate but loyal bunch. They occasionally have something to cheer about on the gridiron and it is only in recent years that success has come on the hardwood. But, there is something that keeps them coming back for more and keeps things meaningful. This is the story of one of those fans.

The late afternoon of Nov. 18 wasn't very much fun for anybody at Cal, rock stars included.

The Bears had just lost another Big Game to Stanford, this one in overtime.

As I was making my way through a somber Memorial Stadium from the press box to the Cal locker room, I noticed a familiar face, one I had seen on MTV and in Rolling Stone.

It was Adam Duritz, lead singer of the California-based rock band Counting Crows. Like the Cal players I was about to encounter in the locker room, Duritz didn't look like he was in the mood to talk, much less field an interview request.

"I was going to stay here for that next day," Duritz recalls weeks later. "I was sitting there in the stands, hanging out with my parents and I just said, 'You know, I'm going home.' I got on a plane and flew home. I couldn't deal with it. It was just too much of a bummer."

If it sounds like the loss hit Duritz like a Fender Stratocaster, it's because it did. There are few things that the songwriter is as passionate about as Cal sports. Duritz is just one example of that Cal fan who has grown up with the school and its teams. As he has grown older, his allegiance to the Bears has only grown stronger.

Duritz was raised in Oakland and became familiar with Berkeley at a young age.

"Being in Oakland, Berkeley was really cool," Duritz says. "A lot of kids I knew lived here. The college town atmosphere appealed to me. It's still my favorite kind of town when we go on tour - a college town."

After a year at UC Davis, Duritz enrolled at Cal for "most of the eighties."

Duritz says he was very involved in the local music scene - he regularly went out to clubs six nights a week - but he still found time to major in English.

But what brought Duritz to Berkeley originally had nothing to do with who was playing at Blake's or The Starry Plough.

"My dad took me to the very first Joe Roth Memorial Game," Duritz says of his first Cal sports experience. "Cal was playing USC and they were down 14-10 in the closing minutes of the game. USC, being the dicks they are, threw a pass instead of trying to run the ball out. I think Anthony Washington intercepted it and ran it back for a touchdown. I was a kid and I was just like 'this is the greatest thing ever - I'm a Cal fan.'"

Further investigation shows that Duritz's memories of the events of that game faded more than his excitement of it - Anthony Green intercepted the pass and Cal was ahead for most of the second half - but, hey, it was 1977.

Former Daily Cal sportswriter David Landis captured what was probably remembered most in the burgeoning fan's mind's eye:

Although not a traditional rivalry, competition between Cal and USC has been intense the last few years, and there was no love lost between the two teams - or their fans.

The players were involved in several spats during the game, including a bench-emptying donnybrook during the fourth quarter which resulted in the ejection of Cal defensive back Anthony Washington.

The fans pitched in with their own antics. Cal rooters waved dollar bills at Trojan fans, mocking their reputed wealth. USC cheerleaders and band members responded by stealing the hat of a Cal band member, and hospitalizing a Cal band assistant who tried to retrieve it.

As any fan can imagine, Duritz was probably one of many 13-year old kids who became Cal fans on that day.

And a Cal fan he has remained, almost to the point of obsession. A mutual acquaintance told me, "Adam knows more about recruiting than anybody at The Daily Cal." After speaking with Duritz for a short while, I didn't doubt him.

Duritz displays the kind of passion for Cal that is a little more commendable than that of the typical alum, who would prefer to let his checkbook and an empty chairback do his cheering for him.

Last month, Duritz put off studio time with his band and snuggle time with his ballerina girlfriend to stay in Berkeley an extra day to watch the men's basketball team demolish Albany.

"That's the worst thing about being on the road," Duritz laments, "I miss most of the Cal games from touring."

Like any longtime Cal fan, Duritz has had his own personal battles with his archrivals across the Bay - Stanford fans.

"I lost a friend one time 'cause I was at Stanford after a Big Game and she was laughing at me because I was so bummed out after we lost," Duritz recalls. "This is years ago, and she told me 'Why don't you lighten up, it's only a game.' I just got in her face and told her to 'Fuck off.' We've never quite been the same since."

It's nice to see that passion and purity are still alive and well in the stands, if not on the court.

In recent years it has been pretty easy to become disillusioned with college sports. Corruption has almost become institutionalized. Corporate fingerprints are everywhere. It's a business.

But the fans, and their love for the game, still remain. It's like your first crush in elementary school - sweet and innocent. At least that's the way you want to remember it.

"It's just like being a kid, that's the whole problem," Duritz confesses. "I still really identify with being a kid. It's good to keep things that remind you of being 13, because you can lose a lot of 13 by the time you're 36."

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