BlogPoll Question #3

Which unheralded player on your team will be the hardest to replace?

Burl Toler, III was a former walk-on wideout and the son of Cal lineman Burl Toler Jr. and grandson of University of San Francisco star Burl Toler. Not much production, given the presence of Lyman and MacArthur in the same class, but a genuinely good guy, with solid hands. The coaches and other players regarded him as an inspiration for his work ethic and drive: this is the kind of guy it's hard to replace. The stars of a team are just that, and you win with your stars, but it's the cracks in between the stars where teams lose games.

I might have said Geoff MacArthur here (Cal career receptions leader), but he wasn't very unheralded (well, not in the Bay Area; since no one in the rest of the country can name any players who aren't called McCleskey or Philip or Lynch, heraldment isn't very useful), or Ryan Riddle (Pac-10 single season sack record), except that Riddle was drafted, so someone knew who he was. But really, if we're talking about a guy who nobody outside of Berkeley ever heard mentioned, it's Toler.

Which seemingly inconsequential player could make the biggest impact?

The most seemingly inconsequential and yet deeply significant player on most teams is the fullback, but it's a position for which I have a great fondness (it was so nice to see Manning throw his record-breaking TD to a fullback). Our starting fullback this year, Chris Mandarino, is a senior three-year starter, and an integral part of the running game. If Mandarino does his job, you should never even hear his name, and the running back behind him should have 2500 yards and 30 touchdowns (Marshawn Lynch, of course).

Which regular-season game that won’t feature your team would you pay the most money to see this season? Why?

This season, Ohio State-Texas (see BlogPoll Question #2). Any season, Ohio State-Michigan or Alabama-Tennesee. I have clear (if ludicrous and without any rational basis) allegiances in both of these games, so it would be fun to watch them in all their historic and historionic glory.

And finally, because I want it, you want it, and the American people want it: If your team were a rapper, who would it be and why?

I don't listen to rap, but I'm sure someone who does could come up with an artist that is a perpetual underachiever — perhaps with a single hit to their name — and who hides behind their intellectualism rather than actually do anything productive.