BUS STRIKE TAKING TOLL ON ATHLETICS.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

It was another day and another lost sports schedule for the Los Angeles City Section on Thursday because of the Laidlaw bus strike that has severely crippled transportation throughout the section.

That's three days of missed games for the entire section, and three days of headaches for athletic directors and coaches.

The section postponed all events for today as well and now is running out of days to reschedule. In fact, if the strike goes much longer, the section could be forced to shorten the seasons.

One possible solution is to play make-up games on Saturdays, although asking on-campus staff members to work on weekends as supervisors could be a problem.

``It's a major, major headache,'' Chatsworth athletic director Fluke Fluker said. ``It has really affected everything around here, and when you talk about having to reschedule rescheduled games and notifying officials and trying to work with the other schools on make-up dates and getting the buses, well, it's a big problem.''

But Fluker said that is nothing compared to how upset the athletes are that their seasons have been interrupted. The Chatsworth baseball team, one of the best in the country, is especially frustrated.

``You're talking about kids who have geared up and trained for months and months to prepare themselves for the opportunity, and now something like this comes around to take away their time in the spotlight,'' Fluker said. ``They're very disappointed, especially because it has nothing to do with them. This is politics and it's affecting their chance to do something they love.''