A DONE DEAL? CSUN FOOTBALL PROGRAM PROBABLY WILL NOT SURVIVE.Byline: Chris Branam Staff Writer It's over. Not the in-house investigation into the Cal State Northridge football program, which uncovered circumstantial evidence circumstantial evidence In law, evidence that is drawn not from direct observation of a fact at issue but from events or circumstances that surround it. If a witness arrives at a crime scene seconds after hearing a gunshot to find someone standing over a corpse and holding a that cost the top two coaches their jobs. That continues. The program, however, is finished. Head coach Ron Ponciano, who was fired Friday after he refused the school's buyout offer, suspects it and so does anyone familiar with the events of the last several weeks. ``It'' being the end of football at CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge after this season. Even though no one in the administration - from interim president Louanne Kennedy down to athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic Dick Dull - admits this will happen, and in fact insist the opposite, the end is inevitable. Look at the facts. CSUN is having real problems adhering to Cal State University's agreement with Cal-NOW regarding gender equity because of football. CSUN wants out of the Big Sky Conference, which requires football as a core sport for its members. The new on-campus football stadium, which could be built as soon as 2001 or as late as never, hasn't received overwhelming support from the community. And now Ponciano, the Big Sky Coach of the Year, has his Northridge house up for sale. ``They might as well just drop the program. . . . Every time the program starts doing well, the school goes against us,'' said wide receiver Aaron Arnold. ``Ponciano started a great tradition in one year and it seems like they want it to fail.'' For a few moments, the Matadors were one of the best Division I-AA teams in the nation last year. Now Ponciano is out, along with innovative offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator typically refers to the coach on a football team in the National Football League or College football who is in charge of the offense. This position aids the head coach by designing and scripting plays, delegating work to offensive position coaches during Rob Phenicie, who was forced to resign July 7. Expect assistant coaches who are loyal to Ponciano to quit if interim administrator Terrance Johnson or another in-house candidate is replaced before the season starts. ``(Ponciano) was the reason I wanted to go to CSUN,'' said tailback Marquis Brignac, the City Section co-Player of Year at Taft High last year and a Matadors recruit. Sophomore Marcus Brady Marcus Brady (Born September 24, 1979) is a quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. College career He attended Cal State Northridge as a business major, where he started 43 straight games. , the best quarterback in the Big Sky, said he would transfer to another school and he won't be the only one. Most, if not all, players recruited in the last two years came to CSUN because of Ponciano. A few, including starting tailback Jaumal Bradley, visited Ponciano Friday. ``All the guys that are here right now want to transfer,'' said Arnold, an All-American candidate. That's not a ringing endorsement of a team that until a week ago was expected to contend for the conference title. Football practice begins Aug. 10. CSUN plays at Kansas on Sept. 11 in what was a mismatch even before the team lost its head coach and offensive coordinator. Kennedy hopes this season ends with a Big Sky championship, but that's taking wishful thinking wishful thinking Psychology Dereitic thought that a thing or event should have a specified outcome to the extreme. In reality, without key coaches and players, CSUN won't win five games in 1999. Even if some players decide to dedicate the season to Ponciano and Phenicie - which is inevitable - that emotion won't matter much against Montana or Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the southern border of which in Arizona is called the Mogollon Rim. In the West lies the Grand Canyon, which was cut by the flow of the Colorado River while the land slowly rose around it. . So within a month of his tenure as the athletic director, Dull has been forced into an awkward position of losing his head football coach. Within a year, he'll be forced to announce he's losing his football program. All the efforts of '98-99 have been wasted. Only a hollow shell of what Ponciano called the school's ``best-ever recruiting class'' will ever wear a CSUN uniform; two recruits have already expressed extreme displeasure with Ponciano's firing. Ponciano said he hopes the Matadors will ``finish the task at hand'' and win the Big Sky title. In that unlikely event, the players and fans better revel in the moment. Because it's the last image they will have of CSUN football. TAKING OVER Terrance Johnson - Former defensive line coach - Born July 8, 1968 - Graduated from Univ. of Colorado in '91 - Part of Colorado's 1990 National Championship team - Coached seven years at the high school level (Pomona and Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. ) WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ``Every time the program is on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of getting something going and people start getting interested and jumping on the bandwagon, something at the university just happens to happen. It's been going on for too long and somebody needs to stand up and do something about it.'' - Mike Hannin, Alumni Association An alumni association is an association of graduates (alumni) or, more broadly, of former students. In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, schools (especially independent schools), fraternities, and sororities often form groups with alumni member and booster. ``People said that about basketball, and we won the Big Sky Conference championship in women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. . I expect to have a Big Sky championship football team.'' - Interim President Louanne Kennedy, asked about the potential negative impact on the football team ``Yes.'' - Kennedy, asked if CSUN will be playing football this season and next ``Bull! They might as well just drop the program.'' - Aaron Arnold, senior wide receiver ``He was a great coach, the best coach I ever had.'' - Taffe Aina, senior offensive lineman ``He was the reason why I wanted to go to CSUN. He was very straightforward with me when I went to go see the school and see the program.'' - Marquis Brignac, Taft High standout and CSUN recruit ``All I'm saying is, `Give us a little more time and then decide,' '' - Athletic Director Dick Dull, on Friday's action ``What parent is going to want their kid to go to Cal State Northridge and participate in athletics now?'' - Harry Cook, Matador matador In bullfighting, the principal performer, who works the capes and attempts to dispatch the bull with a sword thrust between the shoulder blades. Most of the techniques used by modern matadors were established in the 1910s by Juan Belmonte (b. 1894–d. Athletic Commission An athletic commission is an organization which oversees and promotes athletics in a state. For example, the Nevada State Athletic Commission oversees boxing and mixed martial arts. ``When I asked them to put all their cards on the table Cards on the Table is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence. , they refused. I told them if you've got a credible case, I'm not going to let my client buck in the wind if he faces a situation where he can't win. The fact that they won't show me the evidence. . . . I mean, what can you think when they don't show you the evidence other than there isn't any there?'' - John Jamgotchian, Ponciano's lawyer ``That final report - bring it on.'' - Ron Ponciano A PROGRAM IN FLUX 1993 Feb. - California branch of the National Organization for Women sues the CSU See DSU/CSU. 1. CSU - California State University. 2. CSU - Cleveland State University. 3. CSU - Channel Service Unit. system for allegedly perpetrating gender inequity in athletics. As part of the settlement, all 19 CSU campuses are to meet Federal Title IX gender equity requirements by 1998. March - President Blenda Wilson announces the school will play football at the Division I-AA cost-containment level and remain Division I in other sports. Wilson considered dropping football because she feared it would cost too much. Spring - Men's volleyball team wins Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is a college athletic conference whose member teams are located in the western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I. title, finishes second in nation to UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . 1994 Oct. - Students vote against a $45-per-semester fee increase that would have added about $2 million to the athletic department's budget. Students also rejected an increase in April. Officials hint at cutting men's sports. 1995 March - Students approve a $27-per-semester fee increase. The extra $1.2 million allows for formation of women's soccer. July - Bob Hiegert, athletic director since 1960, is asked to resign because of personal differences with vice president Ron Kopita and his inability to operate within the athletic budget. (Kopita himself resigns in February 1999.) Oct. - Northridge joins the Big Sky Conference after the Big West chooses Cal Poly Cal Poly may refer to:
SLO San Luis Obispo (California) SLO Service Level Objectives (information technology services) over CSUN for membership. The Big Sky requires high minimum scholarship levels in football and has a list of core sports that doesn't include baseball, soccer or men's volleyball. 1996 Aug. - Football coach Dave Baldwin Dave Baldwin was the head football coach of San Jose State University from 1997-2000. During his tenure, he had three straight wins over Stanford (including their rosebowl season of 1999). In 1997, SJSU upset No. is reprimanded for lying to cover up the shooting of RB Shayne Blakey. Nov. - Women's volleyball team wins the school's first Big Sky title. 1997 June - Northridge cuts four men's sports: baseball, soccer, swimming and volleyball, claiming it must cut expenses and create equal opportunity for its female athletes. On the day of the announcement, President Blenda Wilson is out of town and not available to comment. Summer - State Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) secures one-time bailout of $586,000 to keep the sports afloat. 1998 May - Softball team wins Big West Conference title. It is the school's only title in the academic year. Fall - Football team achieves national ranking for the first time. Ron Ponciano named conference coach of the year. Oct. - Women's basketball coach Michael Abraham is indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. for possession and conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. In the aftermath, athletic director Paul Bubb and top assistant Judy Brame (now an instructor) are forced to resign after it's learned they knew about the allegations and did little. 1999 March - President Blenda Wilson resigns. She took mostly a hands-off attitude toward athletics until she was widely criticized for the cutting of four sports. March - Women's basketball team wins Big Sky regular season and tournament titles and advances to NCAA Tournament for the first time. Frozena Jerro, who took over for Abraham, is elevated to head coach as team watches NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association selection show. May - Track teams win Big Sky indoor and outdoor titles. June - Sam Jankovich finishes his six months as interim athletic director. He emphasizes the need for increased fund-raising within the community and secures support for an on-campus football stadium. He suggests the need for an on-campus, multipurpose mul·ti·pur·pose adj. Designed or used for several purposes: a multipurpose room; multipurpose software. multipurpose Adjective basketball arena with accompanying hotels and restaurants and upgrading of other facilities, such as baseball and softball fields. July - Richard Dull becomes athletic director. Football coach Ron Ponciano is fired; he was the school's fourth head coach in five years. - Lee Barnathan Researched by Lindy lin·dy or Lin·dy n. pl. lin·dies A lively swing dance for couples. Also called lindy hop. [From Lindynickname of Charles Augustus Lindbergh. Lecaros CAPTION(S): 4 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--Color) The firing of Cal State Northridge coach Ron Ponciano leaves program's future in doubt. Daily News File Photo (2--3) Cal State Northridge football coach Ron Ponciano reacts with disappointment and disbelief to his firing on Friday during an impromptu press conference at his house. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer (4--Color) Terrance Johnson BOX: A PROGRAM IN FLUX (see text) |
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