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BERKELEY, Calif. — Miles Goodman, a first-year grad student at UC Berkeley, had no idea the chain of events he was about to set off when he opened his photo-editing app late in Cal‘s 21-14 win at Auburn on Sept. 7.

For months, Goodman had interacted with opposing fan bases under the handle @golDonbear on X, and it was normal for him to run into barbs about Cal as a bastion of progressive values. The stereotyping was often meant to be insulting, but it usually just left Goodman amused.

Still, those comments were top of mind as Cal put the finishing touches on a win in which it physically dominated the Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“I was like, ‘OK, well this thing that you are pushing both Cal as a team and as an institution, why not take it on from a satirical lens?'” Goodman said.

He cobbled together a few poignant photos, slapped on a rainbow and completed his meme with the phrase, “You just lost to the woke agenda.”

When the official Auburn football account posted a final score graphic on X, Goodman reposted it with his work of art. The post went viral, and in the weeks since has been viewed more than 5 million times.

The common sentiment among college football fans: Cal Twitter, I was not familiar with your game.

Goodman’s post was an inflection point in what has led to the Calgorithm, the overarching term that has come to define Cal’s irreverent community of fans whose self-deprecating brand of internetting has generated fresh enthusiasm about the football program as it begins a new life in the ACC.

Armed with basic photo- and video-editing skills, generative AI art tools and the desire to change the perception that people in Berkeley don’t care about football, the Calgorithm is powered by a mix of longtime fans who use their real names and a larger group of mostly anonymous posters, known as “the burners.” Their dedication played a contributing factor in the decision from ESPN’s “College GameDay” to visit Cal this week for the first time.

“It’s not that we changed that much,” a burner known as Admiral Bear told ESPN. “It’s that the national consciousness figured out that we exist and that we’re interesting.”


AUGUST 2023 WAS a particularly stressful month for Cal fans as the Pac-12 collapsed, leaving the Bears and rival Stanford with an uncertain future.

“There was a real fear that Cal football could die,” said Nick Kranz, a lifelong Cal fan and a contributor to the website Write for California. “Either a literal death, like the school decides, ‘This is not worth it and we’re going to stop playing football.’ Or a more figurative death. ‘We’re going to keep doing it in the Mountain West, but we’re going to get no revenue out of it and we’re never going to achieve anything.'”

Anxiety built over several weeks as the Bay Area schools languished in the Pac-12, their conference home for over 100 years, before the ACC formally admitted the pair on the eve of the first weekend of the college football season.

It was a strange development to process. From the press box at Cal’s Memorial Stadium, there is a view of the San Francisco Bay, and on a clear day it’s possible to see beyond the Golden Gate Bridge out to the Pacific Ocean. Yet, the stadium would now host games in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“Cal in the ACC is very strange,” said Avinash Kunnath, another prominent member of Cal’s online community who has written about the Bears for years. “There’s no two ways around it. And it’s not going to be something that’s going to be easy for a lot of older [fans] or people who have been in the Pac-12 for 50 years. But I think the one thing our community has done is — we live in the weird.”

Most importantly, the move secured a place in a power conference, but it also led to this opportunity for fans to engage in circles of the internet they wouldn’t have meandered to before. In the Pac-12, everything was familiar and there was monotony that came with that. In the ACC, Cal arrived with an element of intrigue for opposing fans, many of whom were unfamiliar with the school beyond its left-wing reputation.

For Cal fans, that dynamic turned into an opportunity.

“We embraced our identity, we started to get more comfortable with the woke stuff and all the things that come with the political side of things, but we didn’t make it super serious,” Kunnath said. “We just kept it kind of lighthearted. We poke fun at ourselves a lot, and we didn’t run from our identity.”

Added Kranz: “Cal gets the ACC lifeline and a bunch of people online who just love Cal football have decided, ‘We are going to save Cal football through the sheer force of our vibes.'”

Considering how diametrically opposed Berkeley and Auburn, Alabama, are on the political spectrum, it was only natural for that to fuel the online banter leading up to and through the game. But as Cal fans playfully leaned into their own stereotypes, there was an disarming effect that welcomed anyone — including Auburn fans — to get in on the joke.

Their tone wasn’t universally adored, but it was clear they tapped into something fun and different. Goodman’s post was far from the only one that played with that theme, but its timing and execution made the most of the moment.

“That particular joke really hit on a nerve where it’s like, ‘OK, we’re going to reappropriate the fact that you are looking down on us as lesser college football fans and you just lost to those lesser college football fans,” Kranz said. “If you’re going to make us a joke, then we’re going to run with that joke and we’re going to be the woke mob that can win football games and also go to goofy protests and hug the trees and whatever other silly stereotype that you like to make about Berkeley.”

In the wake of the Auburn game, the community grew.

“I actually made my account that I use now — @wokemobfootball — right after the Auburn game and just went deep into it,” a new burner, known as Callie, told ESPN. “I just happened to get lucky, saw a post, and the algorithm decided I needed more of it. And then I realized, ‘Oh, this is something I really like. I’m going to go all the way in.'”

Callie grew up going to Cal games with her father and in the past had occasionally waded into Cal Twitter from her main account — the one she uses her real name with — but she could sense there was a movement afoot. The more absurd the joke, the better.

As more people got involved, the more coordinated everything became. A group chat within X includes more than 100 burners who share ideas and provide feedback for one another.

Momentum continued to build as Cal beat San Diego State 21-0, but it was the following week when things reached a new level, as the Bears prepared for their ACC debut against Florida State in Tallahassee.

A visit to Florida’s state capital offered another opportunity to poke fun at the contrast in political viewpoints, and the Calgorithm took advantage. Name the stereotype, the burners embraced it.

Callie started an official tongue-in-cheek Change.org petition that called for FSU to change its mascot from the Seminoles to the Manatees.

“The Manatee–a graceful and majestic creature–aligns much better with Florida State’s football team and fandom,” the petition reads.

There was an onslaught of generative AI images. Those without editing skills realized the barrier for entry to fire off their own contributions wasn’t very steep. All they needed was a couple of minutes and a finely tuned prompt and any number of online tools could spit back an image to match their vision.

For the team, the trip to Tallahassee ended poorly. Cal outgained FSU 410-284, but its offense was a disaster in the red zone, and the Bears failed to score a touchdown in a 14-9 loss. This could have been the moment for Cal fans to abandon ship and let the Calgorithm fade back into obscurity.

Instead, the opposite happened.

The Calgorithm doubled down headed into the bye week with the hope of luring “GameDay” to campus with top-10 Miami headed to Berkeley on Oct. 5.


FOR WEEKS, CAL’S fans had joked that the song “Hot to Go!” by Chappell Roan could be reworked as “Ott to Go,” a nod to the Bears’ star running back Jaydn Ott. But as the Calgorithm became more ambitious, the joke became a real endeavor.

“A friend of mine was like, ‘I’m going to commission a singer and we’re going to make ‘Ott to Go’ happen,” Admiral Bear said. “And I’m just like, ‘That’s a big move. But if you’re going to put up the money for it, that’s cool.'”

But when Admiral Bear looked at the lyrics, he wasn’t feeling them and decided to take his own stab.

“I punched out some lyrics and sent it to him, and he is like, ‘That’s a thousand percent better. We’re absolutely going with that,'” Admiral Bear said. “We workshopped the lyrics a little bit, refined things here and there. He got demos from three different singers, and we picked the one we liked the best and sent her the lyrics. And a couple days later, she sent us the file.”

The commission cost a little more than $300 and the Swedish singer, Micky Hage, had been previously unaware that Cal football even existed. After she finished recording, she learned more about the Bears, including the fact that their mascot and her boyfriend go by the same name: Oski.

Callie had volunteered to make an accompanying music video and on Friday worked on it past 3 a.m. The completed version was well received when it posted Saturday, reflecting another step forward by the Calgorithm.

At work Monday, a co-worker went by Callie’s desk specifically to show her the “Ott to Go” video.

“He’s a Cal alum and he showed it to me, and I kept quiet,” she said. “He was like, ‘This is so funny. Did you know about Cal Twitter?’ I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of that.’

“I did send it to my dad and said, ‘Hey, I made this,’ but definitely not to my co-workers. I don’t need them knowing about my burner account.”


ON THE SAME day the “Ott to Go” video posted, “GameDay” announced it was headed to Berkeley. Segments of the Calgorithm had been lobbying for the show since the FSU loss and there was some cautious optimism after Miami stayed undefeated Friday night through a controversial ending against Virginia Tech.

“I was at Target in Emeryville when I found out,” Goodman said. “I did a backflip in the parking lot. Literally a backflip. The last time I ever hit a backflip was like eight years ago when I was doing gymnastics.”

Without the enthusiasm from the Calgorithm, it’s hard to gauge how appealing Berkeley would have been for the show. What’s clear is there is a correlation between what’s happening online and real-world benefits.

After “GameDay” announced it was coming, the California Legends Collective announced an inspired anonymous donor was willing to match up to $1 million in donations ahead of the Miami game, and in the first 36 hours the collective received more than $300,000 in pledges.

“Having a bunch of super-smart, super-engaged, super-creative people lending their voices to this and kind of raising awareness of Cal football has been a godsend,” said Kevin Kennedy, the collective’s executive director. “We don’t have this million-dollar match without ‘GameDay.’ So if we’re kind of saying that the Calgorithm brought us ‘GameDay,’ then the Calgorithm brought us a million dollars and counting.”

“We’re going to hit the million-dollar match. I think the only question is how much we’re going to go over the million-dollar match. So we’ll have at least $2 million more in NIL than we would’ve without this happening. So it’s been terrific.”

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BC start QB James over Castellanos against SMU

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BC start QB James over Castellanos against SMU

Boston College will start Grayson James over Thomas Castellanos at quarterback against SMU this weekend, coach Bill O’Brien announced during his press conference Tuesday.

O’Brien said the decision is “what’s best for the team right now” and said Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled with that. He’s taken a couple days.”

James entered the game last week against Syracuse in the third quarter and helped lead a 37-31 victory.

Boston College hosts ACC leader SMU on Saturday, needing one more win to reach bowl eligibility.

Castellanos was just 2-of-7 for 14 yards with a touchdown an interception at that point in the game. James went 5-of-6 for 51 yards with a touchdown pass.

Castellanos has struggled at times this season, particularly in the passing game. James started one game earlier in the year in place of the injured Castellanos, going 19-of-32 for 168 yards with a touchdown and interception in a 21-20 win over Western Kentucky.

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Faust, Notre Dame coach in 1980s, dies at 89

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Faust, Notre Dame coach in 1980s, dies at 89

Gerry Faust, who was famously plucked from an Ohio high school to lead Notre Dame’s storied football program in 1981, died Monday, his family confirmed in a statement. He was 89.

Faust, who had no college coaching experience prior to replacing Dan Devine in what was dubbed the “Bold Experiment,” had a 30-26-1 record from 1981 to 1985. He guided the Fighting Irish to just one bowl victory, 19-18 over Boston College in the 1983 Liberty Bowl, and his teams lost at least four games in each of his five seasons on the sideline.

Despite Notre Dame’s mediocre stretch during his tenure, Faust was grateful for the unlikely opportunity to live out his dream by coaching the Fighting Irish.

“I only had 26 miserable days at Notre Dame, and that’s when we lost,” Faust told the Los Angeles Times in 2008. “Other than that, I was the happiest guy in the world. If I had the opportunity to do it again and knew the results would be the same, I’d do it again in a minute.”

The son of a successful high school coach in Ohio, Faust had grown up dreaming about playing at Notre Dame. At an early age, Faust told anyone who would listen that he was going to play football for the Irish.

“I’d loved Notre Dame as long as I can remember,” Faust wrote in his book, “The Golden Dream.” “When I was in the fifth or sixth grade, I’d ride my bike to practice with my cleats slung over my handlebars, my helmet on my head, whistling the ‘Notre Dame Victory March.’ Even in the fourth grade, I knew what I wanted and I wasn’t bashful about telling others.”

As a high school senior, Faust visited Notre Dame the day before the season finale against USC. Back then, recruiting rules allowed college teams to work out recruits. Faust was one of 18 quarterbacks on campus that day, according to his book.

“I was about eighth in line,” Faust said. “After I saw the first seven throw the football, I knew I couldn’t play football at Notre Dame. They were too good. My next dream was to be the coach at Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame offered Faust a partial scholarship, but he didn’t accept it because he didn’t want to burden his parents with the cost of tuition. He played quarterback at the University of Dayton from 1955 to ’57.

In 1960, Faust started building a new football program with borrowed equipment at Archbishop Moeller High School, an all-boys Catholic School in the Cincinnati suburbs. From 1962 to 1980, Faust’s teams had a 174-17-2 record (.906 winning percentage), and went unbeaten in seven seasons. They captured nine state championships and four national titles.

In 1977, Faust wrote a letter to Edmund P. Joyce, Notre Dame’s executive vice president, and expressed his interest in coaching the Fighting Irish if the job opened one day. Cleveland Browns co-founder Paul Brown later wrote Faust a recommendation, and Faust’s lawyer, Ken Schneider, sent Joyce newspaper clippings about Moeller High’s accomplishments.

Three years later, Joyce called Faust and asked to meet him at a Cincinnati hotel. It was in the middle of May, and Joyce confided in Faust that Devine was thinking about stepping down because of his wife’s ailing health.

In the initial meeting, Joyce told Faust that he had one concern about hiring him: He had never recruited high school players, which was the lifeblood of every college football program. Faust told him that he’d watched Joe Paterno, Bear Bryant, John Robinson and other college coaches recruit his Moeller High players for 18 years.

Devine announced on Aug. 15, 1980, that he would retire at the end of the season.

The day after Faust guided Moeller High to a 30-7 victory over Massillon Washington High in the state championship game, he was hired as Notre Dame’s new head coach.

“He was totally dedicated to Notre Dame, almost with a passion, and he was terribly enthusiastic, totally optimistic,” then-Notre Dame president Theodore Hesburgh wrote in his book, “God, Country, Notre Dame.” “He was the high school football coach with the best record in the country, and [Joyce] and I thought it was worth taking a chance on him.”

When Faust saw Notre Dame’s schedule for 1981, he said, “I hope my lifelong dream doesn’t end in a nightmare.”

Unfortunately for Faust and the Fighting Irish, his tenure was more of a nightmare. Notre Dame defeated LSU 27-9 in Faust’s first game and ascended to No. 1 in the AP poll. It was the peak of his five-year tenure. The Fighting Irish dropped four of their next five games and finished 5-6.

Notre Dame went 6-4-1 in 1982 and 7-5 in 1983 and 1984.

Joyce and Hesburgh had promised Faust they’d give him five years to build a program and stood by him, despite mounting pressure from alumni and fans to dump him.

The Irish lost three of their first four games in 1985. In a 10-7 loss to LSU on Nov. 23, 1985, Irish receiver Tim Brown dropped a pass across the middle that might have put his team in position to win the game. Brown was inconsolable in the locker room, and Faust knew it was time for his tenure to end.

“Tim, you didn’t cost us the game,” Faust told him. “You wouldn’t have had to catch the ball if I’d made the right decisions. Don’t put that burden on you. That burden should be on me.”

With a 5-5 record, Faust announced his resignation on Nov. 26, 1985. The Irish lost to Miami 58-7 in his final game.

“If you’re ever going to put the blame somewhere, put it on the coach,” Faust said at the news conference announcing his resignation. “That’s where it ought to be. We got started on the wrong foot five years ago and never did bail out of the thing.”

Faust coached at the University of Akron for nine seasons (1986 to ’94), posting a record of 43-53-3. He worked as a fundraiser at the school before retiring in 2001.

Faust returned to Notre Dame often in his later years and was a mainstay in the press box on game days.

“Certainly, it was a highlight of his life to get the Notre Dame job,” Joyce once told ESPN. “It was the answer of his dreams from the time he was a toddler. The low part of his life is possibly not succeeding there, but he doesn’t let it get him down. When he’s going to be judged up above for his whole life, he might get more credit for the way he’s reacted to adversity than all the good fortune he had.”

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Ohtani a finalist for NL MVP; Judge, Soto vie in AL

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Ohtani a finalist for NL MVP; Judge, Soto vie in AL

NEW YORK — Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is a finalist for his first National League MVP award — after twice winning the American League honor — and is joined among the top three in NL voting by New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is a finalist for his second AL MVP in three seasons, joined by Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto.

Ohtani was unanimously voted the AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022. Ohtani signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December, but he didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery.

Ohtani would join Frank Robinson for the Cincinnati Reds in 1961 and the Baltimore Orioles in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes is a finalist in balloting for the NL Cy Young Award and NL Rookie of the Year. The 22-year-old right-hander becomes the fifth rookie to finish among the top three in Cy Young Award voting, after Mark Fidrych (1976), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Dwight Gooden (1984) and José Fernández (2013). The only one to win both awards in the same year was Valenzuela in the NL.

Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title, playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

Ohtani would become the first primary DH to win an MVP award.

The top three finishers in voting for each of the major individual awards presented annually by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America were announced Monday night on MLB Network. Winners will be revealed next week.

Balloting was conducted before the postseason.

Ohtani would become the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).

Lindor batted .273 with 33 homers, 91 RBIs and 29 steals, while Marte hit .292 with 36 homers and 95 RBIs.

Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average while hitting 32 homers with 109 RBIs. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs.

Atlanta‘s Chris Sale and Philadelphia‘s Zack Wheeler are NL Cy Young Award finalists along with Skenes, who made his big league debut May 11 and went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts, striking out 170 in 133 innings.

Detroit‘s Tarik Skubal, Kansas City’s Seth Lugo and Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase are the finalists for the AL honor. Clase becomes the first reliever to finish among the top three in voting since San Diego‘s Trevor Hoffman came in second in 2006 NL balloting.

Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio joined Skenes as finalists for NL Rookie of the Year. Yankees right-hander Luis Gil and catcher Austin Wells are AL finalists along with Baltimore outfielder Colton Cowser.

Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt, Kansas City’s Matt Quatraro and Detroit’s AJ Hinch are finalists for AL Manager of the Year. The three NL finalists were all first-year managers with their teams: the Mets’ Carlos Mendoza, Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy and San Diego’s Mike Shildt.

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