The StumbleUpon phenomenon is often hard to figure out - but when something I've written catches the eye of a group on StumbleUpon, it's always good for a quick rush of visitors who disappear, seemingly as quickly as they had arrived. They aren't the type to leave comments, or even, in most cases, click around and read the rest of the site, but it's good for an hour or so's worth of entertainment - as I try to decipher what it was about that particular item that set them off.



Typically, the story I've written which gets nominated to StumbleUpon isn't even new. For example, today, just after 7:30 (Pacific), I got hit with the latest wave of Stumblers, looking at a series of Alexa charts I posted last Sunday, showing the declining level of influence from traditional media sites in relation to new media.

It's not the first time I'd hit StumbleUpon, having previously reached the site for my comments on Facebook, and one or two others, which I can't recall. But as I've noted before, I shouldn't count on them with any routine. They're one night stands at best.


Speaking of external linkage, Lance Wiggs wrote up a nice piece on why he believes "old media is not doomed" after all. In his mind, it comes down to brands, skills and lawyers.

Also, our good friend and curmudgeon Steven Hodson complains that the latest discussion of Google Reader statistics is just another way for the A-List bloggers to show how much better they are than the rest of us. See his note: I thought they said the A-List wasn’t important; or didn’t exist.

Truth be told, if I had tens of thousands of subscribers, I'd want to count them all the time and show everybody how far ahead I was too... Maybe if I can figure out the magic to getting on StumbleUpon more regularly, I'll get on that list...

It's been more than seven months since I first asked Google to tabulate the most popular feeds, and the most popular shared items on link blogs within their Google Reader service. While Google has made improvements to Reader in that time frame, including the long-awaited addition of search, and integration of Trends data, the statistics many hold dear are still missing.

In that vacuum, A-List bloggers, including Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, Robert Scoble and Gabe Rivera have teamed up to use their own resources, and make a faux Top 100 of their own.

Arrington posts a note today of the Top 30 list he and Gabe came up with (Top Blogs On Google Reader). The list shouldn't surprise you - Engadget and TechCrunch lead, with Wired, Slashdot, and other household names following behind. Meanwhile, Scoble does his own number crunching, and also puts TechCrunch and Engadget among the leaders.

Though he asks, "How many Google Reader Subscribers Do You Have?", I don't exactly want to answer, for I am but a small speck in the blogosphere, in the double digits, when some of the mega-blogs are over 100,000.

But truthfully, while the A-List titans likely enjoyed putting the numbers together, it's a mockery that they're left doing this independently when Google obviously has enough resources to deliver the data. It comes down to either not knowing how (unlikely), not wanting to (maybe), or choosing to do something else. So what is it they're doing?

The Associated Press recap of today's 31-28 loss for Cal against Oregon State carried a nice keyword: "Inexplicably", as in "With his receivers covered, Riley inexplicably tried to scramble for the score."

Among 64,000 fans this evening, we saw Cal charge back in the final minutes to give us hope for today's game after a full regulation of hope mixed with frustration, only to have it "inexplicably" torn away from us, as a freshman backup quarterback, starting his first NCAA game, snuffed out our chances for a national title in one simple misstep.

As I noted this morning, I feared Cal was in for a surprise. They'd ridden high, undefeated so far, to the #2 ranking in all the land. But I felt the emperor had no clothes. As elsewhere, number 1 LSU lost, the chance was there for the Bears to back into the #1 ranking, if they could just hold on and win at home against the Beavers. But they couldn't do it. They were trailing in the first quarter. They led by one point at the half, and fell behind quickly, again, in the 3rd quarter. After a brief 21-20 lead, they watched Oregon State put on 11 points, taking a 31-21 lead, helped along by two critical Cal fumbles, an interception, and a successful goal-line stand by the Beaver defense, which Cal could not match.

As time ran down on the clock, Cal charged back, making it 31-28 with less than three minutes to go. And we got the ball back! At our own 5 yard line, "The Drive" started, as redshirt freshman QB Kevin Riley powered the Bears down the field with the final minutes turning to the final seconds. The end zone was in sight, and if unsuccessful, we could always tack on an easy field goal to send the game to overtime. Right? Wrong. Riley "inexplicably" tried to run for it himself and was stopped well short, when an incomplete pass would have saved the game.

In the space of an afternoon, a story was lost. The hopes of the tens of thousands of us at Memorial Stadium, no doubt compounded by the hundreds of thousands of Cal fans outside the stadium, for the team to reach the #1 position in the country for the first time since our grandparents were roaming the campus, were dashed, "inexplicably", by a bonehead scramble from a poor kid who will likely be thinking of his alternatives for decades to come.

Now, instead of an undefeated team possibly in the BCS hunt for a national title, Cal is one of many 1-loss teams, and falls back into the Pac-10 race, headed for a showdown with USC in early November. While we will, for sure, be cheering our butts off for that game, we've "inexplicably" been forced to lower our hopes and face reality. This wasn't the year.

Cal, fresh off a bye week, and sporting a lofty #2 national ranking, is all set to take on the Oregon State Beavers this afternoon at 4 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. The last time we saw the Bears, they had squeaked out a challenging victory against the Oregon Ducks, catapulting their #6 poll position to where they are today. Since then, many an upset has befallen the college football leaderboard, including an utter collapse by USC against Stanford. Now, the nation's eyes are on Cal, and whether their so-far undefeated season will take them to a national championship berth, or if it will become unraveled on the way.

Being an "Old Blue" Cal alum, we keep expecting this dream to come crashing down at any moment. I know Cal is a great football team. It has excellent speed, and some well-known individuals, starting with DeSean Jackson, supported by Justin Forsett, Nate Longshore and a host of leaders on defense. I've seen them consistently win. But just as I feared Cal was overrated at the #6 spot, my anxiety is increased as they've continued their ascent. When I see the play to play struggles or a soft quarter, it's all I can do but hold my head in my hands and hope that outside of the stadium, nobody else sees what I see - a spotty defense and an offense with big playmakers but inexact consistency.

Couple in my pessimism with news that Cal quarterback Longshore is still hobbling after an ankle injury at Oregon, meaning the backup quarterback might see play today, and my stomach starts to turn. Just when we were taking the world by storm, too!

The Beavers are not to be underestimated. In the last few years as a season ticket holder, they have surprised me with their offense, and they've taken some games from the Bears where they shouldn't have. They're no longer the Pac-10 basement dwellers of years gone by, but instead a formidable opponent not to be taken lightly. I hope Cal is ready, and doesn't expect to get a "W" simply because of the logos on their jerseys and what it says in the paper. After all, the game always starts out tied, 0-0.

In a few hours, we'll be in Berkeley, clad in the blue and gold, yelling our lungs out for our Cal Bears to put the pounding on the Beavers and keep progressing up that evolutionary ladder. We'll hope for the best, challenge on every play, and try to keep that little voice in our head quiet for just one more week.

You can follow along on Excuse Me For My Voice or The Band Is Out on the Field. Game time is 4 p.m.