The recent sacking of Cal basketball coach Ben Braun wasn’t too much of a shock. On the other hand, the rumored next coach of Cal Basketball is: Mike Montgomery, former Stanford coach who raised the Standford red to national prominence. I have mixed feelings, and yet a part of me can’t help but cheer softly inside. He’s a good coach. When my friends and I asked DanBear, the original Cal fan, he responded thus:

it’s a tragedy. i know ben has been under fire for the past several years and to be fair he has been under-performing. my allegiance to ben isn’t blind… but at the same time i remember the history. i remember what he’s done for cal. too many myopic fans suffer from the ‘what have you done for me lately’ syndrome. i remember the turmoil of the post-bozeman years and how ben took us to the sweet sixteen. i remember his withstanding the temptations of a higher-profile michigan job (even in light of the sad precedent mariucci set by betraying us). i remember how a division-1 coach took the time to cater to the whims of a handful of college students and even provided them with t-shirts. i remember the integrity and honesty he restored to cal basketball and how he insisted on running a clean program. i remember ben. only those who deny the historical record can deny that he’s been crucial to cal basketball. i will never forget the impact he’s had and how he single-handedly saved cal basketball in the 90’s. i love ben braun!

This is the same DanBear who took my friends and I to Haas Pavilion in search of Ben Braun’s office, bought the coach a tie, and then brought signs to Cal basketball games that said, “I [heart] Ben Braun!” Whatever our private misgivings or cheers, may this signal a new age of prosperity for Cal basketball.