The Longshore-Riley-Mansion Debates: Decision Making

Posted by: Avinash on Monday, September 29th, 2008

After four weeks of action by our football team, we continue the California Golden Bears quarterback debates of 2008.

MODERATOR: After a spirited first round, it’s time for a new topic. Mr. Longshore, for two years you were the starter under Jeff Tedford and ran his West Coast offense with great proficiency. Yet after you struggled through last season’s slide and lost your starting position at the beginning of this season, your name is being circulated back into the quarterback position.

NATE LONGSHORE: Well I’d like to say that although everyone’s been counting me out because they think my time is past, you just can’t get rid of me that quickly. I’m only going away if our team starts playing better without me, so even if I have my detractors I’m ready to keep on playing football whenever I get the chance.

Why has the quarterback competition been reopened? Well, to put it frankly, the hype about Kevin Riley has not matched his performance. He has been off his game and his receivers are not meshing with him, and we cannot tolerate either any longer. Tedford’s tough love is working right now, and this is just another sign that we have to trust our head coach.

MODERATOR: Mr. Riley, your response?

KEVIN RILEY: I respect Mr. Longshore’s trust in Coach Tedford’s ways, and as his current starting quarterback. However, we cannot let ourselves be blinded to trust our leaders. We have to open ourselves up to the input of what the players want, what our fans want. Trusting our leader is what got everyone so riled up last year, so we can’t let ourselves fall prey to these issues again.

Now, although Mr. Longshore has gutted it out many times for our team and been a good soldier, we have to ask ourselves whether his return will do long-term good for the Sturdy Golden Bears. Do you think the fans from Oakland to San Francisco, Los Angeles to New York, all throughout and abroad from these great United States, will stand for anything less than a return to the Cal football tradition they inherited from the Eldest Blues?

MODERATOR: Mr. Longshore, your response?

NATE: It is good for passionate Cal fans to discuss and debate this issue, even if they only address issues at the surface without knowing what’s going on inside.

However, wins are not measured with hope and optimism. They are measured with results, and so far Mr. Riley has not come close to meeting the expectations that his fanbase expected him to meet. Right now our players are in desperate need of leadership through actions rather than words, and all Mr. Riley has shown is that he’s capable of firing up the troops. That is not enough to succeed in the long-run.

MODERATOR: Mr. Riley, your response?

KEVIN: Well, you can’t argue with Nate’s experience. But does the solution he propose of security and stability hold much weight based on a few distinct scatter points? Mr. Longshore’s fourth quarter record speaks for itself, as does his abilities when the team is trailing. He seems to lack the requisite skills to step up in the clutch, something I’ve shown I’m capable of, even if I haven’t done it lately.

History argues that even if my opponent does provide our team with a quick sense of security, they also argue that in the long-run you’ll get more of the same from Cal football, and it’s a past that I think many Golden Bears fans want to turn away from. Our development depends on making sacrifices that will produce long-term success rather than short-term solutions.

Nate Longshore can’t be the solution if he’s been part of the problem to begin with!

NATE: If I may interject–

MODERATOR: Go ahead, Mr. Longshore.

NATE: What my fellow quarterback has said is a cute, but naive way at looking at how the past three games have gone for him. Mr. Riley has shown flashes of the quarterback he could be, but he has a long way to go and it is keeping the offense from meshing as a unit. Many of his throws were air-mailed against Washington State. He threw a ghastly pick against Maryland where him and the receiver didn’t exist on the same page. He has just missed receivers at various points. He is still not ready to assume senior leadership.

KEVIN: Look, Nate…

NATE: You just don’t understand, Mr. Riley. As a leader of our Coach Tedford’s offense for two years, I know all about the importance of reading progressions, finding your man, audibling out and taking it to the hilt.

BROCK MANSION: Can I just interject here?

MODERATOR: Yes, Mr. Mansion, please go ahead.

MANSION: It does not matter who is appointed because we still have a system that rewards bad kickers. Didn’t. Imagine when Cal has a game winning field goal to send…and you have Jordan Kay lining up from 41 yards? How many Cal fans will you kill that day? Why can’t the Bears fix the system before focusing on petty things like quarterback issues? Why are we recruiting from freaking soccer kickers?

Let me be the kicker. Let me have a stand in this fight. I’ll placehold and then swing my body over like I’m on a totem pole and then kick that sucker!

MODERATOR: Um, thank you. We’ll be back after this break.

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