Look for the 4 sports to get a reprieve
By Evans On Sports
Today (May 21) was supposed to be the day when we learned whether Cal State Bakersfield President Horace Mitchell would allow the endangered sports of wrestling, men's and women's golf and women's tennis to return in 2010-11.
May 21 was also slated to be the final day of the CSUB athletics fund drive. But that has now been pushed to May 26, and with it a delay in the announcement on the future of the four sports. Now, that announcement is scheduled for June 1.
Mitchell said the 4 sports needed to raise $1.4 million independent of the ongoing CSUB athletics fund drive to ensure survival for two years. That $1.4 million goal will fall short, but no one at CSUB is talking about how much has been raised. The coaches of the impacted sports feel they've got more than half of the amount needed and hope that'll be enough for Mitchell to grant a reprieve.
And I think that's going to happen.
If Mitchell pulls the plug on the 4 sports, I don't think CSUB will see another penny of contributions from the vast majority of supporters who have stepped up to show their backing of the 4 sports. That's a huge risk for an athletic program that desperately needs as much monetary community support as possible if it wants to be a viable Division I program.
And if the programs go away, the money raised for their survival is supposed to be returned to the donors. That's way too much money to give back in these tough economic times.
It's safe to say Mitchell and the advisers who urged him to cut the 4 sports (no one in authority in the athletic department wanted the sports dropped) have been caught off-guard by the emotional outpouring of support for the sports, particularly wrestling.
If Mitchell holds firm to his $1.4 million figure and dismantles the 4 sports, it will do irreparable harm to future athletic fundraising endeavors.
I don't think he's going to chance that. So I see the sports staying alive.
We'll find out soon enough.
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