Golden Bears

Golden Bears is more than just a history of football at the University of California at Berkeley. It also traces the political, cultural, and economic factors that have made the nation’s most prestigious public university as well known for its activism as its academics. Only in Berkeley, for example, could a campus radical become more famous than an All-American quarterback. Fascinating profiles bring to life Cal’s distinctive personalities, including coaches Andy Smith and Pappy Waldorf, incredibly gifted but emotionally complex players such as Jackie Jensen and Chuck Munice, and the flamboyant University presidents Benjamin Ide Wheeler and Robert Gordon Sproul. Other chapters cover the Bears' best-known plays, from the famous five-lateral kickoff return known forever after as 'The Play' to Roy Riegel’s run in the Rose Bowl. The book chronicles this engrossing team all the way through its highly successful 2008 season.