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Cal's new athletic direction By Carolyn Jones It was telling that, following the 2000 version of Big Game torment, no one threw frozen oranges at the Stanford Band. No Cal fans stormed the Tree. And, very un-Berkeley-like, no one even taunted the security guards. Everybody just shrugged and politely filed out of Memorial Stadium, quietly making their way down the hill toward a cooler of beer waiting somewhere in the gathering darkness. The pain of being a Cal football fan had reached new depths. Whither the outrage? Remember the years of frustrated fans stomping their feet, shaking their fists, and crying out “Those damn Bears!”? They’d lustily boo the officiating, then fire off irate letters to the administration, threatening to cancel their season tickets. But now all is quiet in the stands—just the collective sigh of 35,000 dreams deferred. Which brings us to the University’s search for a new athletic director, as John Kasser steps down after seven years (see next page). Should the new A.D. even bother with football? After so many seasons of unfathomable disappointment for fans, maybe it would be best if the new A.D. swiftly pulled the plug. They shoot horses, don’t they? Some would call this heresy. In fact, at some point in every football season, the Bears play so well that every fan wishes the blue and gold euphoria could last 12 months a year. For a few brief shining quarters each season, every pass is caught by the intended receiver, every extra point sails through the goal posts, every too-many-men-on-the-field penalty is on the opponent. That’s what keeps us slogging back, year after year, hearts full of hope, fully believing, “Gee, this is really fun!” Everyone who cares one iota about Cal football has entertained these hopeful thoughts. But are we deluding ourselves? Maybe we would all be better off if we just walked away from football, and focused instead on something uplifting, like basketball or crew or rugby. Let’s not forget that some on campus believe that top-level college football, in its present-day form, is inherently corrupt and detracts from the school’s academic mission. As a role model, they point to the University of Chicago—a fine institution that had the smarts to drop football years ago, and probably came out the better for it. So will Cal ever follow that route? Fat chance. Here’s the truth, for better or worse: Cal will never leave the Pac-10, slip quietly into Division III, or drop football entirely. It would take a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling to get Cal out of the football business. The reasons for this are many, but they can be summarized in two main points. First, the football program is not as horrid as many fans think it is. The team is actually in pretty good shape for the next couple of years; even this most recent season had its bright spots. Second, the football program brings in an enormous amount of money. In fact, the athletic department’s entire $26 million annual budget is supported by revenue from football, men’s basketball, and donations. Giving up football would mean, in effect, giving up the school’s other sports. But there’s another, less tangible reason to keep football. My father, George Jones ’51, is well acquainted with the agony and ecstasy of the Cal football program, but he does not hesitate when asked if the new A.D. should scrap football once and for all. “Football is the flame around which the alumni gather,” he said emotionally, several weeks after the last Big Game wounds had scabbed over. “It gives us an excuse to come back to campus, to see old friends. And we should not deny these bright youths the privilege of playing football for the University of California. It would be nice if we won more games, but it’s not essential. Fortunately.” That said, he was adamant that the new A.D. should make football a priority. “Football is the University’s most public activity, and it is very important to those of us who bleed blue and gold that we have a program that reflects the glory of the institution,” he said. “It is important that Cal be first-rate in every endeavor.” Just about everyone would like to see Cal win more games, but the degree to which the new A.D. should strive to meet that goal is much debated. Some on campus believe the athletic department should take its place respectfully behind the French, math, and drama departments, that its primary goal should be to maintain a clean program and quietly educate student-athletes who may or may not win games. After all, we’re talking about games and recreation, not weighty matters of academia. Listen to Nadesan Permaul ’72, M.A. ’73, Ph.D. ’90, a vice president of the California Alumni Association, and Oski’s faculty advisor: “The integrity of the program should be the number one priority of the new athletic director,” he says. “To do it any other way would be a blemish to the University.” Permaul adds that Cal would do well in an athletic conference like the Ivy League, in which top-notch schools compete at a low-key level, and it’s too bad there’s no equivalent on the West Coast. Almost all the top schools here compete in highly competitive Division I-A. If Cal were to drop out of the Pac-10, likely opponents would be smaller schools such as St. Mary’s, Sacramento State, and UC Davis. Others would like to see Cal become a sports powerhouse, along the lines of UCLA, Michigan, and (gag!) Stanford. Cal has had successful football programs in the past. Why can’t that be repeated? Political science professor Jack Citrin, who was Cal’s faculty representative to the NCAA from 1991 to 1999, says it’s imperative for Cal to reverse its fortunes on the gridiron, and that to do so it must change its entire attitude toward sports. “Success in the revenue sports will breed more success. But at Cal, winning has been a real psychological hurdle. I don’t know how a new A.D.—or even the chancellor—can inspire that,” he says. “It takes an elephant a long time to fall; but when he does, it’s very, very difficult to get him back up.” Citrin says the school needs to be willing to pay top dollar for a good coach, and treat the program with full respect and attention. The expectation for winning has to start at the top. The man at the top of the Pac-10 Conference, commissioner Tom Hansen, says that Cal fans should never give up hope. After all, in the past decade seven different teams in the conference have gone to the Rose Bowl and, with every school getting 85 football scholarships, the playing field is more level than it has been in decades. Furthermore, if Oregon State, Stanford, and Washington State can make it to the big time, Cal can too. “I think that Cal is a national leader in athletics as well as academics. I think the football program is in good shape; but even if you look beyond that, there’s tremendous success in the other sports,” he notes. “Cal is a very, very important member of the Pac-10. There’s no reason for fans to be pessimistic.” Associated Students president Teddy Liaw, who sits on the A.D. search committee, would like the new athletic director to be accessible to students and to reserve more student seating at Haas Pavillion. “I’d like a program built not just on success, but on creating an environment where students can support the athletic teams,” he says. “We have a lot of students here who don’t care about sports at all, but they’re a minority. Most of the students are looking for a program they can get behind. It’s a chicken-and-egg dilemma: Does the program have to be successful before there’s widespread campus support, or vice versa? But I see no reason why we can’t solve it. After all, we’re the best public university in the world.” Most students are yearning for a |
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