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San Jose State Opts Out Of Stanford Game For
More Lucrative Matchup Against Alabama |
The California "budget crisis has put state colleges and universities under tremendous pressure to cut spending," and intercollegiate athletics are "feeling the bite," according to David Wharton of the L.A. TIMES. Univ. of California at Irvine officials "abruptly dropped five sports -- including men's and women's swimming -- just before the new school year." A "comparable scenario is playing out at Los Angeles City College, with every sport except women's volleyball suspended until next summer." Not all schools are "taking such drastic measures," but one official said that athletic departments "across the state are scrambling to become ... leaner and meaner." The "tough economy could affect more than 10,000 student-athletes" in the Univ. of California and California State Univ. systems and "about 25,000 more at community colleges." San Jose State Univ. announced it is "backing out of a scheduled football game" at Stanford in '10, opting instead to play at Alabama because SEC schools are "known to pay visiting teams in the neighborhood" of $1M. Meanwhile, UCLA AD Dan Guerrero has "shaved $1.5[M] from his budget and is rethinking the schedules for many of his teams." Also, UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel and basketball coach Ben Howland have "volunteered to take pay cuts." Guerrero, who is also taking a cut, said that the details are "still being negotiated," but the coaches are "expected to forgo as much as 10% of their salaries" (
L.A. TIMES, 8/7).
