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By Andre V. Tolpegin ’50 I am neither an expert nor a sportswriter, just a loyal alumnus, Bear Backer, summer employer of Cal football players, and longtime observer of the Cal scene. But let me take a crack at some observations and suggestions that may help make new football coach Jeff Tedford’s task easier. The most obvious observation is that Cal is not recruiting its fair share of big and athletic high school seniors. Yes, we get the occasional Andre Carter, Tony Gonzalez, and Deltha O’Neal, but we don’t get enough of the supporting-cast athlete upon which a solid program depends. In my view, the reason for this is that the bad old days of truly miserable teams and academic hostility toward football created an image of the University that has not since altered. It is time to change all that. Here are my suggestions: Athletic image. To those who either live or work near the campus, the University needs no selling. It is the place all sensible people, including football players, want to come. But in places like the talent-rich Central Valley or the Los Angeles Basin, high school athletes whose interests are equally divided between academics and athletics, their coaches, and, most important, their parents want to know about the bottom line: Will there be a good education, good coaching, and campus support? The answer to the first question is obviously “yes.” The experience and reputation of the new coaching staff likewise suggest “yes.” The third question is the one that demands not only a “yes,” but a strong, enthusiastic affirmation from the administration that it welcomes and supports student athletes. Chang-Lin Tien ignited campus spirit for football (and basketball) merely by expressing his own enthusiasm. Not everyone can act like the former chancellor, but the same support, expressed in other ways, can do just as much. And that would change Cal’s athletic image forever. The image of “Berkeley.” Those of us who graduated in the distant past, as well as more recent graduates (my son, Class of ’90, for one), know that media portrayal of campus life is neither fair nor accurate. We know that the University is in Berkeley, but it is not Berkeley. We know that Telegraph Avenue is near the campus, not on the campus, and that the Berkeley City Council governs Berkeley and not the University. But this is not evident to parents in more conservative areas of California, and they have a completely distorted view of what occurs on campus. It is important that all members of the University community make the effort to paint an accurate picture of campus life. On that theme, I was immensely heartened by Chancellor Berdahl’s prompt notice to all alumni refuting the media’s portrayal of campus reaction to September 11, and setting the record straight. Our media image. Cal fans are both loyal and long-lasting in their loyalty, despite the number of seasons that leave little to cheer about. What can be done to beef up our general public image, to give us things to cheer about? One of the most effective things Cal does is to sponsor the pre-football game “Fun Zone” on Kleeberger Field. The kids at such events are the ones who tell their friends what a wonderful place the University is. Yet we can do a lot more. The media, particularly in San Francisco, seems oblivious to Cal athletics except at Big Game time, or when there’s a coaching change. We can do a lot to cultivate the media, and thereby cultivate public interest. At the risk of being accused of heresy, may I suggest that the sporting public, and the potential recruit, is more interested in knowing which Cal graduates are in the NFL than in how many Nobel Prize winners we have? These are the thoughts of a frustrated, but never disillusioned, Old Blue. We have the plant, we have the personnel, and we have the desire to awaken a long-slumbering football program. All we now need to do is to polish up our image a bit! |
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