As an independent student newspaper and the paper of record for the city of Berkeley, the Daily Cal has been communicating important updates during this pandemic. Your support is essential to maintaining this coverage.
This column is not about me. I mean, it is, in the sense that my face is hovering above these words and my name just below it. It is in the sense that I’m engaging in the most egregious form of navel-gazing, that of the explicit variety. But this very
Read More…
Update: Since its original publication, this post has been updated to reflect additional editing. One of my favorite pieces of writing from this very newspaper — perhaps my all-time favorite — was written by Mike Silver in 2002. Silver, working at Sports Illustrated at the time, took to the fine
Read More…
The voice is low, gravelly, striking, disembodied, as if arriving from another planet. The opening scene finds this voice berating our protagonist, veteran actor Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton), who is meditating — levitating? — in a messy dressing room, muttering a mantra under his breath in an attempt to block
Read More…
The Tuesday Cal football press conference generally stays away from recounting the triumphs or misfortunes of the team’s previous week, preferring to focus on moving forward and, therefore, the upcoming opponent. But after the Bears’ calamitous loss Saturday at the hands of Arizona — one that saw the Wildcats pile
Read More…
You know the routine: wake up, wipe the sleep out of your eyes and … grab your phone. Check your notifications. Two texts — both from your mom. Ignore those for now. An email — ah, it’s from Travelocity. Never mind. Three Snapchats from your high-school buddy! These should be
Read More…
I find myself in the trees zooming by. I find myself in the skyline rising in the distance and the cars oscillating back and forth, and I find myself in each highway sign post marking the exits to unfamiliar towns. On planes, I spend entire flights memorizing the architecture of
Read More…
When James Grisom lost his scholarship and was told he needed to pay back $11,000 of overpaid aid, he had no choice but to quit playing football.
Read More…
As the clock showed zero and the Ryan Field scoreboard confirmed that no, this is not an optical illusion, it really was the first Cal football win in nearly a year, the players bounded ferociously toward the small Cal fan section in the northwest corner. Once there, they jumped, hooted,
Read More…
EVANSTON, ILL. — It’s been said that Cal football head coach Sonny Dykes’ offense is gimmicky. The extreme hurryup is a fad. Throwing on every play is bound to collapse on itself. Trick plays are fun to watch but are not sustainable. Tell Dykes these things last year, and he
Read More…
My only two friends are bottles: a Jack Daniels fifth and a whiskey mixer. They’re sitting together, a perfect pair, as I recline in my chair, alternating swigs from each. A glass full of whiskey sour lies untouched near my feet. My eyes glaze over into a soft focus. I’m half concentrated on the Xbox game I’m playing and half concentrated on the question of when to take my next swig from the whiskey bottle.
Read More…
