Sports
Cal Berkeley’s Calgorithm — social media and self-awareness in ‘the people’s program’
BERKELEY, Calif. — Speckled throughout the mass of overjoyed fans scrunched together at the epicenter of the Cal Berkeley campus Saturday morning were the ambassadors who played specific parts in making this once inconceivable scene materialize.
They raised their phones high, capturing a 360-degree view of the madness of ESPN’s “College GameDay,” and hit record. They embraced the emotion of the moment as the sun began to peek over the Berkeley hills.
Without them, Nick Saban isn’t tearing off his crimson tie at the behest of the fans who couldn’t bear seeing even a tinge of something close to Stanford Cardinal red in front of the sea of exultant California blue and gold. Without them, program legend Marshawn Lynch isn’t flown in to be the celebrity guest picker, taking his rightful place in a golf cart and later placing Kirk Herbstreit in a very friendly headlock.
And without them, the seats inside California Memorial Stadium aren’t packed more than 12 hours later to digest an agonizing last-minute 39-38 loss to No. 8 Miami.
Behold, the ballooning cultural clout of the Calgorithm, a guerilla-like social media movement that leans into sarcasm, stereotypes and self-awareness through photoshopped and AI-generated memes that embrace the absurdity of perception.
Calgorithm was easy to spot on Saturday in Berkeley. (Christopher Kamrani / The Athletic)
On Saturday, as GameDay’s Pat McAfee constantly roused the crowd, it was clear the Calgorithm had achieved its objective: to prove that Cal, associated with one of the most liberal communities in America, does, in fact, have a beloved fan base happily obsessed with Golden Bears football.
Punch in the hashtag online, and you’ll be awash in memes of grizzly bears wearing masks and stepping off an airplane called “Stop Climate Change Airlines” in Florida prior to Cal’s game earlier this season at Florida State. Or grizzly bears welcoming Miami Hurricanes on the tarmac with a “Critical Race Theory” book in hand.
“There’s a certain joy and a certain absurdity,” said Nam Le, who graduated from Cal in 2012. “It’s a fun story from a fan base that is traditionally ignored.”
At this point there are too many memes to count — and new attempts at their own brand of self-deprecation nearly every minute.
From within, they’ve cultivated a very obscure sports moment that has resonated not only within the online reaches of the Cal fan base, but among college football followers of other teams nationwide. A routine response from a random follower after diving deep into the Calgorithm is that “Cal is now my second favorite team,” members of the Calgorithm say.
When it pertains to actual membership, some are known publicly, some aren’t. Some are transparent about their real lives on social media, some aren’t.
Known commodities include a teacher, data analyst, political coordinator and someone who hawks hot dogs at minor-league baseball games. The others exist in the realm of anonymity and are referred to as “the burners.” They are known by random social media handles for their participation in the online discourse that has brought a disarming nature to platforms often inundated with volatility.
They’ve made themselves seen online but also within the walls of the Cal football facility. Some members of Cal’s football support staff have a group text thread carved out specifically for new memes to share.
“The burners are hilarious, man,” said Marshall Cherrington, Cal’s director of player personnel. “We all love them inside this building.”
Linebacker Cade Uluave specifically thanked “the burners” during a news conference appearance last week for helping bring more attention to the program and game against the Hurricanes. Special teams coordinator Vic So’oto shared on X that defensive lineman Xavier Carlton and linebacker Ryan McCullough were “keeping the pocket hot like Cal burners” followed by some flame emojis.
The reach the Calgorithm has achieved over the course of the season is apropos for the school and its locale. At a university in a city long known for its involvement in social movements dating back to the 1960s, this movement just played out on social media.
And the people, the fans, took matters into their own hands. GameDay producer Matthew Garrett said prior to making the call to Cal last week to gauge interest in hosting, he was flooded with questions by fans of what they could do to get the show to Berkeley for the first time. Prior to Saturday, Cal was one of six Power 4 schools to have never hosted.
When it got its chance, of course it was in typical cognizant Calgorithm fun. Signs held high compared Cal’s list of Nobel laureates produced at Berkeley compared with Miami. (The score is currently 61-4.) One read: “I thought this was a protest!”
The Calgorithm really seemed to take off after Cal upset Auburn 21-14 on Sept. 7 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The meme by Don Grizzel, Ph.D (@golDonBear on X) featured cutouts of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, whose parents met in Berkeley in the early 1960s, Oski, Cal’s bear mascot, quarterback Fernando Mendoza, a rainbow, and an obtusely stretched out photo of President Joe Biden and the caption read: “You Just Lost to the Woke Agenda.” The post has received 5 million impressions.
https://t.co/hskIyGbkH2 pic.twitter.com/cPIfI1FXRW
— Don Grizzell, Ph.D. (@golDonbear) September 7, 2024
The scope of the Calgorithm is immeasurable, members say, due to always churning conference realignment in college football. As the previously constituted Pac-12 imploded, Cal, alongside its rival Stanford, was forced to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, a league on the opposite coast but a home in a power conference. With that, came an opportunity for Cal fans to introduce themselves to a portion of the country that may have only known of Berkeley through various long-perpetuated stereotypes.
“They already believe these stereotypes about us,” said burner Callie, also known as @WokeMobFootball. “Why don’t we just turn it up to 12 and just absolutely make fun of it for how absurd they sound when it’s thrown back at them?”
Mike Davie says Cal fans have come armed for any sort of perception lobbed their way by fans online. But they say they always try to do it with a smile knowing that college football is what they all love and that it doesn’t need to be another well poisoned online.
“Yeah, we tell them the ‘DEI’ defense is here killing it,” Davie said. “And when people say, ‘Don’t make fun of Cal fans. They police pronouns.’ And we were like, ‘Here comes the pronoun punt team!’ And it makes them laugh.”
The Calgorithm is also perpetually one step ahead. They’ve also helped raise funds for Cal’s NIL collective, Cal Legends. People donating are leaving comments thanking the Calgorithm for activating attention.
“That’s the kind of person Cal produces into the real world, people who want to help do things in smart, simple and efficient ways,” Cherrington said. “And we want to always have our doors open to them. This is the people’s program.”
Four hours before kickoff against Miami, a small parking lot on the southeast side of campus hosted a Calgorithm tailgate. Exhausted already from a day that began before sun-up, they shared highlights and beers. They were still amped that Lynch drove the golf cart. Together, they watched Vanderbilt upset No. 1 Alabama.
They introduced themselves to one another as their online handles. Some burners geeked out over meeting others. One burner thanked Callie for remixing Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!” hit song for Cal running back Jaydn Ott. “Ott to Go” was played at GameDay, which Callie could not get over, and probably never will.
O-T-T-T-O-G-O
We’ve got Jaydn Ott to go!#Calgorithm #FightForCalGameday #H1M #WhyNotCal pic.twitter.com/8D68f8pnjH— The Liberal Calgorithm (@wokemobfootball) September 28, 2024
Fellow Cal fans crowded around an exhausted Avinash Kunnath, a Cal grad and one of the godfathers of popular fan blog site, Write for California. Kunnath wore a Calgorithm meme T-shirt, jean jacket and a fuzzy bear hat. Saturday doesn’t happen without him, and basically everyone else in that tailgate lot, they said.
The group passed around shots of Malört, a tradition at the burner tailgate that dates back to the 2021 season. It was an ode to a past too often filled with disappointment, one which made a vengeful reappearance Saturday night. But it was also a salute to a future so swiftly reshaped by the community of devotees who took matters into their own hands and made the joke at their own expense before anyone else could.
“I like to tell people that we almost died as a program,” Le said. “We can’t really afford to be realistic about it anymore. This program deserves to and can only survive with a love and an ambition and a spirit that’s larger.”
(Top image: Meech Robinson / The Athletic; Bob Kupbens / Icon Sportswire)
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The Utah Utes will be ending an era when they play against Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl Dec. 31.
It will be head coach Kyle Whittingham’s last game as head coach after the 66-year-old announced Friday he is stepping down. Whittingham is the winningest coach in program history, going 117-88 over 22 seasons.
“The time is right to step down from my position as the head football coach at the University of Utah,” Whittingham said in a statement Friday.
Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham on the sideline during the first half against the Baylor Bears at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, Nov. 15, 2025. (Chris Jones/Imagn Images)
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to lead the program for the past 21 years, and I’m very grateful for the relationships forged with all the players and assistant coaches that have worked so hard and proudly worn the drum and feather during our time here.”
Whittingham co-coached the Fiesta Bowl with Utah in 2004 and then took over as the permanent head coach the following season. Whittingham led Utah to a winning record in 18 of his 21 seasons.
This season, Utah is 10-2 and at one point ranked No. 13 in the AP poll, just missing out on the College Football Playoff (CFB).
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Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham reacts during the second half against the Kansas Jayhawks at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kan., Nov. 28, 2025. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)
Whittingham was named the Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1981 in his senior year.
Before becoming a coach, Whittingham played in the USFL and the CFL from 1982 to 1984. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at BYU.
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Whittingham joined the Utah staff in 1994 and rose through the ranks. He began as the defensive line coach and eventually became the defensive coordinator before becoming the team’s head coach.
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His final game on the sideline will be the team’s bowl game against Nebraska. Whittingham, who is 11-6 in bowl games as a head coach, will look to end his tenure with a win on Dec. 31.
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The film tells the truth. The Lakers are not a good defensive team, evidenced by the sight of the NBA’s top guards blowing past Lakers defenders into the paint during a 10-game defensive swoon that ranks among the league’s worst.
Yet when coach JJ Redick shows his team the tape and then backs it up with the numbers, there’s still cautious optimism that the Lakers can improve.
“I don’t think there’s anybody in that meeting room that thinks we’re a good defensive team right now,” Redick said, “but I also don’t think there’s anybody in that meeting room who thinks we can’t be a good defensive team. We’ve got to get better.”
In the 10 games since LeBron James returned to the lineup, the Lakers have scored 121.1 points per 100 possessions, a significant increase in their offensive rating of 115.4 during the first 14 games of the season. While their offensive rating ranks fifth in the league during the last 10 games, their 120.9 defensive rating ranks 28th. It’s a dramatic increase from their previous 113.7-point defensive rating.
The most glaring issues are the team’s defense in transition and early in the opponent’s offense, Redick said. The Lakers give up 1.19 points per possession in transition, fifth-worst in the league.
Sunday’s game in Phoenix against the Suns, who scored 28 fast-break points against the Lakers on Dec. 1, will be a significant test as the Lakers (17-7) try to avoid their first losing streak this season.
Led by Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and the 40-year-old James, the Lakers are not destined to be a fast team on either side of the court. They were outmatched against San Antonio’s dynamic backcourt led by the speedy De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, who combined for 50 points Wednesday as the Spurs scored 27 fast-break points and knocked the Lakers out of NBA Cup contention.
Losses like that exposed the Lakers’ lack of speed on the perimeter, but the team also has shown flashes of excellence against the best guards. The Lakers held 76ers star Tyrese Maxey to five points on two-for-six shooting in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ four-point win at Philadelphia on Dec. 7.
“It’s less of scheme stuff. A little more of urgency,” guard Gabe Vincent said. “A little more of doing all the little things. If you don’t do them, like I said, there are some great players in this league that will expose you.”
One of the team’s top defensive options is on the bench. Forward Jarred Vanderbilt has played only three minutes in the last 10 games. He entered the game against Philadelphia only after Jake LaRavia took a shot to the face that loosened a tooth.
Vanderbilt, an athletic forward, has been a consistent force on defense during his career but struggles to contribute on offense. While he impressed coaches with how hard he worked in the offseason to improve his shooting and ballhandling, Vanderbilt made only four of 14 three-point shots in the first 14 games. He averaged 5.8 rebounds per game before James returned to the lineup Nov. 18, pushing Vanderbilt to the bench.
Before the Lakers’ last game against the Suns, Redick said part of it was a numbers game with James’ return and felt the team would settle on a nine-man rotation. Vanderbilt had tasks he “needed to be able to do consistently to play” even before James returned, Redick said.
Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox, scoring against Lakers guard Luka Doncic, and teammates continually drove past their defenders during an NBA Cup game Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
But making changes at that time was difficult, the coach acknowledged. The Lakers were in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. But they’re 2-3 in the last five games, which have laid their defensive struggles bare, and coaches are “looking at everything.”
“If this continues,” Redick said Friday, “he’ll definitely get his opportunities.”
After practice Friday, Vanderbilt stayed on the court shooting extra three-pointers with staff members.
Etc.
The Lakers assigned guard Bronny James to the G League on Friday.
Sports
Philip Rivers’ former teammate expresses one concern he has with 44-year-old’s return to Colts
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There is a good chance Philip Rivers sees some action on Sunday when the Indianapolis Colts take on the Seattle Seahawks in a must-win game for the AFC South team.
Rivers, 44, joined the Colts earlier this week as the team deals with a quarterback crisis. The potential Hall of Famer hasn’t played since the 2020 season, but when the Colts needed him the most, he answered the call and dove into a playbook to get game ready.
But what can any NFL fan think Rivers is going to provide for the Colts at 44? He’s changed so much since the 2020 season, as his opponents on the field. The Seahawks also have one of the best defenses in the league.
Shawne Merriman #56 of the San Diego Chargers walks on the sideline in the game against the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 15, 2009 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
Shawne Merriman, Rivers’ former teammate, told Fox News Digital that he expected him to play well but was concerned about one thing.
“It’s a tough week for him to get back. But I’ll tell you this, Phil’s upside was never his athleticism. It was always his competitiveness,” he said. “He’s the most competitive player I’ve ever played with, that’s one. And two, it was his preparation and his mental and his knowledge of the game of football. Those two things would always got Philip to be that elite quarterback. It was that. So, it’s not gonna be that much different as far as him moving around the pocket.
“The concern I do have is you can’t replicate football without playing it. So, you can have a coach out there, I’m sure he was throwing the football around with his high school kids. I’m sure that he was working out, but you can’t replicate football. So, I think he’s gonna go out there and look good. I think he’s gonna go out there and actually look like he did five years ago.”
When the rumors started that Rivers was potentially going to come to Indianapolis for a workout, Merriman said he wasn’t surprised.
Philip Rivers #17 of the Los Angeles Chargers looks for an open receiver during the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 29, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)
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The former San Diego Chargers star said when he spoke to Rivers during Antonio Gates’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony, it didn’t feel like the quarterback was completely finished with the game.
“I wasn’t shocked. And, this is why – a couple of years ago, I put on Twitter that Phil was still ready to play and this was I think in 2023,” he said. “And everybody’s like, ‘What? Well, yeah, right.’ He’s been gone out of the game I think three years at that point and then literally a week later or two, it pops up that the San Francisco 49ers, their quarterback situation with all their injuries, that they were thinking about bringing in Philip. And I said, I told you.
“I had a conversation with Philip and he didn’t say, ‘Oh, I’m coming back to play,’ but when you talked to him, it sounded like he was ready. It sounded like he was talking about the game in the present moment.”
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Merriman said he got together with Rivers and Drew Brees during Antonio Gates’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony and it didn’t like Rivers was exactly finished with football.
“So, I’m not surprised at all and it’s the right decision by the Indianapolis Colts.”
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