Time is a fungible concept when you're deep in trascendental meditation pondering koans, hence we're a tad late. But not too late, as Bears fans in Berkeley will probably be humming om and pondering the unknowable ("What in the hell is a Sun Devil?") until just minutes before the 12:30pm kickoff against Arizona State today. Which brings to question, "With two good offenses, is the best offense still defense?" Cal fell like a tree in the forest on Portland State last week, to the sound of 42 points. But the schedule going forward is patsy-free as they begin conference play.

In the wake of a 37-9 loss to Navy, Cardinal fans are mired in quiet contemplation. This Stanford Daily article presents an instructive tale of the peaceful acceptance of futility, and the necessity of finding joy in the very experience of being:

“What’s the point?” asked senior John Collins as he stood up from his seat two minutes into the second quarter and quietly left the stadium.

The rest of the Red Zone seemed to agree. The student section never got into the game, unimpressed with Cardinal Competitive Cheer’s pleas for noise and the faint sound of "All Right Now" being piped in over loudspeaker.

By the time Navy was piling it on in the third quarter, students were recycling the poster board provided for the halftime card stunt to construct paper airplanes. The biggest cheers after halftime were for the planes that floated from the upper deck and onto the field.

Photo of the kickoff at Memorial Stadium last week by Flickr user Rosa.