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UC Berkeley Press Release

UC Berkeley football fans flock to pre-Big Game events

– Word to the wise: Whatever your bowl hopes, don't wear the color rose, or pink, or - shudder! - red around the University of California, Berkeley, this week. It's Big Game time.

With UC Berkeley's fourth-ranked and bowl-bound football team looking for a three-peat in the battle for the Stanford Axe, Golden Bear fans are building momentum all week to show their support. The climax will come Saturday afternoon, when the Bears make their final home appearance of the year to battle Stanford University in sold-out Memorial Stadium.

This week is full of Big Game-related rallies and contests for just about any taste. Last night was the Cal/Stanford Sing-Off, a friendly choral competition between singing groups from the two schools. This morning, Chemistry 1A's Big Game Titration - a 40-year tradition of color change and school spirit - was held at UC Berkeley's Pimentel Hall. Student groups are providing the food and the music for Thursday's Taste of Berkeley, sponsored by the UC Berkeley division of the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC).

The pre-game excitement peaks with Friday's Bonfire Rally at the Greek Theatre, where Coach Jeff Tedford and the football team will join the UC Rally Committee, Cal Band, Dance Team, Oski, Mic Men and many others in the final rally before the Big Game.

The heart of Big Game week is, of course, the 107th edition of the Big Game, which kicks off at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. There's plenty on the line this year - a sizable win will move the Golden Bears a big step closer to their first whiff of Pasadena's roses in nearly half a century.

There's more to Big Game sporting events than football. Yesterday, the Cal Sailing team took on Stanford in the Big Sail in San Francisco Bay. The Cal Ice Hockey club team faces off against its cross-bay counterpart in the Big Freeze Thursday evening at Berkeley Iceland. And in the Big Splash, the Cal Men's Water Polo team will hit the pool Saturday morning at Spieker Aquatics Complex to take on Stanford.

And in a competition with no losers, the campus chapter of the American Red Cross is co-sponsoring Get the Red Out, a cross-bay blood drive in which UC Berkeley is vying with Stanford to see which school can collect the most blood donations. Alumni and fans can dedicate their donations to their favorite team; on-campus blood drives will be held this Thursday and Friday in the Pauley Ballroom at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union.

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