As the names were called, and the school Long Beach State was so often attached, the sting of last year’s regional exit was softened but the stark reality of 2009 began to set in.
Such was the case of the 2008 MLB Draft. A school-record 11 Dirtbags were selected as the exodus of former LBSU players to the big leagues once again took flight. Eight went in the first seven rounds alone. From 2004-2006 they had a player selected in the top-12 picks overall.
It’s a tremendous thing for the program and the school to hang its hat on, especially with ex-LBSU players making huge strides at the pro level.
Evan Longoria was an All-Star, American League Rookie of the Year and played in the World Series in just his first season. This year he leads the league in RBIs.
Jason Giambi, Jered Weaver, Troy Tulowitzki, Bobby Crosby and Jason Vargas all fill important roles on big league rosters and the list is much longer.
But at what cost?
Look at the top players from this year’s team that went 25-29, the first losing season since the Dirtbag moniker came into being 20 years ago.
Ace left-hander Adam Wilk (7-4, 2.78 ERA) may leave. So too might closer Charlie Ruiz (11 saves, 42 strikeouts). On the offensive side, a handful of juniors could make the jump if the place and money are right, including the top four hitters from the 2009 squad. Steve Tinoco (.343, five home runs), TJ Mittelstaedt (.321, 46 RBIs), Taylor Krick (.310) and Jordan Casas (.308, 22 steals).
Can Long Beach State remain successful with Major League Baseball plucking talent from the Dirtbag roster with such regularity?
The answer in a word is simply no. Before the season, head coach Mike Weathers told me that MLB comes to Long Beach State for talent. But when you can’t keep that talent together on the field, that makes it tough.
“They come here for that reason but at the same time we cause our own problem because the guys do come here for that reason and most of them do sign,” Weathers said Sunday after being swept by Fullerton.
Increasingly, a lack of money hurts the Dirtbags’ chances. Blair Field is a beautiful and historic place but many of its facilities are in need of a facelift.
Other conference opponents like UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton offer glimpses of what is possible with beautiful new ballparks to call home. The competition is tough but the battle for funds could be the biggest issue facing the Dirtbags as they move forward.
There is a ton of great baseball players in California and across this nation but in southern California alone Weathers has to recruit against some real good teams all within a home run’s distance.
Irvine especially represents the unique problems facing LBSU and their success means another baseball powerhouse in the Dirtbags backyard. The Anteaters burst onto the national scene this millennium. They made their first College World Series in 2007, are hosting their first regional in 2009 and are ranked No. 1 in the country.
Rival Fullerton has won 30 games in a row for 35 years and enters this season’s NCAA tournament as the No. 2 overall seed. LBSU went 0-6 against the two teams this year.
Further north UCLA and USC struggled this season in what was a down year for the Pac-10 but still hold valuable traditions as a key recruiting tool. Other storied LA baseball programs like Pepperdine and LMU only add to the competition.
Other Big West schools further north like UC Santa Barbara, who swept Long Beach State two weeks ago, and Cal Poly, making their first tournament appearance this year, only complicate things.
If you travel inland, UC Riverside has been greatly improved. The Highlanders qualified for postseason play last year and finished 33-20 this season.
To the south, Tony Gwynn’s San Diego State squad has gained national notoriety due to their flame-throwing star Stephen Strasburg. The consensus No. 1 pick in this year’s draft has raised the Aztecs profile for years to come. San Diego was a participant in the 2008 Blair Field regional and had an RPI in the top-50 this year.
In fact ten of the 11 teams I mentioned had an RPI in the top-95 and eight were in the top-77. Only Pepperdine’s rating of 133 trailed LBSU’s 114.
The competition is tough but the battle for funds could be the biggest issue facing the Dirtbags as they move forward.
The Beach Legacy Referendum would have brought much needed support to the baseball team but it’s failure to pass only cements the financial shortcomings as California’s budget crisis continues to plague the CSU system.
So the Dirtbags, who with their success have brought much satisfaction to their fans with their grind-it-out style and winning ways, are in a precarious position. Is this a fluke year or a sign of longer, calculated swoon?
While there is no doubt that Weathers and his staff will continue to bring some of the best players to Long Beach State, the program is in desperate need of some financial help that equals its success. Without it, they risk falling into mediocrity and losing more players to the professional ranks both out of high school or after their junior seasons.
The Dirtbags will continue to thrive at the highest level as those 11 guys from the 2008 draft class strive to join their ex-teammates and friends in the big leagues. More will join them in the years to come.
So in a sense, Dirtbag baseball is alive and well.
Most importantly, it needs to continue to be at its most fundamental level, where it all began, and that is right here in Long Beach.
If everybody is allowed into a university, who will mow our lawns, bus our tables and pick our fruit?
The biggest problem the Dirtbags has is the Dirtbags. Must suck to be you Be-aches.
Hmmmm Irvine and Fullerton invested in new stadiums when the economy was good, but LBSU wants to suck its students dry for athletics during a recession. It seems easy to figure out which universities are responsible and visionary, doesn’t it?
LBSU is a bunch of whiners. Because they lose their butts at everything, they turn on the crybaby tears. “Waah, we don’t have enough money to be good!” What a load. All CSUs are hurting and not whimpering that their athletes don’t get enough pampering. Sacramento and Fullerton also turned down athletics referenda and they’re not whining like Tucker and Cegles. Suck it in and make do with what you have. There are many people surviving on much less, you wimps. The real message you’re sending your student body is “We can’t compete without pumping money into prima dona athletes. If we can’t buy victory, it’s out of reach.” Real winners find a way. Stop blaming your inadequacies on the rest of your student body, you wussies.
Let’s all do a stiff-armed salute and shout “Go Beach!” Hey Tucker, explain to us how CSU Fullerton kicks dirt in the bags face AND refused to pass an athletics fee increase referendum too. It ain’t about the money, it’s about the quality of the programs and players, where we continuously kick your asses. You could triple or quadruple your student fees and we’d still kick your asses around the diamond.
What is very hilarious is that ‘Rick McCallum’ asks ‘spirit of Ruben Salazar’ ” Can’t you ever make a statement without using emotionally charged words” at the end of a completely emotionally charged tirade, LOL!!! Must have some mental problems to work out there, ‘Rick’ good luck with those shrapnel heebie jeebies. Wow, what a nutjob!!!
Rick, ever heard of the 1970 Chicano Moratorium, when Ruben Salazar was assassinated by an L.A. cop who was later shown to be part of a white supremacist group? Those weren’t cooked numbers that indicated Hispanics were disproportionately returning from Nam in body bags, were they? In fact, those numbers were never contested by the military industrial machine. The majority of whites (not a ubiquitous term) who served were also from poor urban and rural centers. Vietnam was largely a class war, and we all know which middle class (not ‘ubiquitously’ minority and/or poor white) were not drafted out of college and into the military. Not many people of color had political access to congressmen to help them get deferments during the ‘selective’ service lotteries because THEY DIDN’T HAVE ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION–where the white middle class hid from duty. I truly don’t believe you served in any branch of the service during the war. You are either making it up to serve your guilt. I’ve met so many from that period who falsely claim to be Vietnam vets, for whatever reason–pity seekers, latching onto others’ glory, etc.
What I find most troubling is that you are arguing on a college newspaper for increased fees for athletics, fees that don’t involve you. It only shows that you are either socially irresponsible or ignorant. You clearly don’t read or watch the news to see what the trend in cutting education funding is across the U.S. I do believe you were a college student on draft deferment. The youth who will be hurt as they are increasingly priced out of college opportunity are living in the barrios and ghettos, not those in middle class neighborhoods. The ones being excluded by economics are NOT the ones whose parents teach them that sports, partying and sex are critical to getting the most out of their university experience.
If you really are of the age to have attended LBSU during the 1970s, why don’t you act your age and stop fueling the fires to push for increased student fees. Let the students figure it out themselves. Act like a grown up.
A personal note. The rest I’ll address later. I served as an 11-B, E-5 infantryman. And I have news for you, there were a lot of everybody in the front lines. And a lot of everybody died and survived. More news, there mostly whites and blacks, very few Hispanics. One of my best friends, last name Fernandez, was killed in 1966. He joined the Marines because that is what he wanted to do. He is in my mind an AMERICAN hero. The guy who from the 101st during the Tet Offensive who became a CPA is Japanese American. Try eating in the South with a black man at the wrong restaurant in 1965. Try watching as a little kid your father and grandfather are treated differently. My father is very dark. Probably darker than any of you. My mother was that ubiquitous over-used term ‘white’. I also suspect the ‘Spirit of Rueben Salazar’ never served or if the he did he was an REMF. I wasn’t. My friends were the ones that died or were wounded. I resent being called a racist and a KKKer. I’lll make sure my neighbors, who are minorities, black, Hispanic and Asian, know your feelings. Can’t you ever make a statement without using emotionally charged words. Like isn’t as complicated as you make it out to be.
The accusation was made at 13:36, six comments before mine, look again
If someone is censoring comments it is being done without my knowledge
I find it hard to believe the Daily 49er sports desk isn’t “handling” the comments and here’s why. Tucker posted “Oh and I’m not aware that anything has been censored by my staff” at “14:32” before the accusation of censorship was posted at “15:46” on the same day. Those are military time frames. For civilians “14:32” was at 2:32 p.m. EST, and “15:46” was an hour later. Hmmmm, why would the defensive post appear before the accusation if it wasn’t being monitored and censored by staff? The time couldn’t be a result of the server because it’s a log time. Pitiful argument that wouldn’t hold water in a court of law, Tucker. And I agree with the other comment that there were at one time more than 30 comments and an hour later less than 10. Pretty good newspaper to wrap fish in, since it already smells fishy.
“Derogatory” is subjective isn’t it, Tucker. What might be seen as derogatory by some shouldn’t be weighed by protectors of the First Amendment. I find much of these comments to be derogatory, but wouldn’t block them because I merely don’t agree or because they offend my senses. Even in passing you’re the one who re-opened the BLR can of worms in this newspaper. This follows on the public relations piece Bob Keisser just published in the Press-Telegram, so it’s easy to link a connection between sports writers in promoting something that Alexander and Cegles are still aiming at, namely to raise student fees for athletics. It’s a situation you placed yourself in, so stop whining about the reactionary comments. That’s what this platform is for. By continuously jumping in to defend yourself, it gives an aura of complicity with the PR faction of the athletics department. The article is slanted and biased, and it shows incredibly when you jump defensively!!! It also makes it look more like the comments are being ‘controlled’ and censored by your staff and you.
Once again the DFN is choosing which comments are welcome and which are not. Shameful practice. I came on earlier and there were around 30 comments, now they’ve erased many of them. Anybody that really believes it’s “Technical issues” hasn’t paid attention to the type of comments they exclude; mostly because you never get to see them.
This column is supposed to be about the Dirtbags’ struggles this year–NOT the BLR. If you want to talk about the BLR, post your comments in one of the many stories that have been published about it. If not, your comments may be reported for being off-topic or for containing name-calling and profanity. Keep that in mind if you want to continue posting.
How did devolve into this? Here are my two comments about finances.
“Increasingly, a lack of money hurts the Dirtbags’ chances.”
and
“The Beach Legacy Referendum would have brought much needed support to the baseball team but it’s failure to pass only cements the financial shortcomings as California’s budget crisis continues to plague the CSU system.”
These are FACTS. I cover the baseball team and they are starting to struggle because of a lack of resources. The economy is in a downturn, so they are being squeezed like everyone else.
Not once do I say the students should pay more money, that athletics are more important than education or ever turn this into a class issue or present a platform to make this an issue of racism.
Times are tough and like every other facet of campus life, money is hard to come by and you can see that manifest itself on the field for the Dirtbags. That is all.
The issue of the BLR was only raised to show where some of the money needed could have come from – not to say whether it should or should not pass – and since the students voted “NO” on it, it’s back to the drawing board for athletic officials still seeking money for new facilities.
Oh and I’m not aware that anything has been censored by my staff but if so refrain from profanity and derogatory terms and I’m sure there won’t be any problems.
Students voted in historic numbers to reject the referendum, but the ‘athletic supporters’ refuse to take no for an answer. They prefer to take the will of the minority over the will of the majority. Sports is such a small part of the bigger picture, but ‘athletic supporters’ try to paint it as being all important to getting a higher education and a good job. I think most of the comments pushing to tax students more for less are involved in athletic programs. President Alexander would make a huge mistake by bastardizing the student vote on BLR to interpret the student body wants to pay more for sports during a recession. This is something that should only be revisited when Arnold fixes the economy. Hitting fall freshmen with tuition increases and stripping away Cal Grants isn’t going to be an easy sell that we need to spend more on women’s soccer and a women’s rowing team. When those freshmen learn responsible students said ‘no’ to athletics fees, they aren’t going to be extremely happy with the university experience. Transfer students will be easy to recruit for a student revolt as well. This is just really a bad time for a sports public relations campaign. Pushing the agenda will only create a bad taste for sports, especially when students feel their voices and votes mean nothing to administration because the athletic director has his ear. King better open his other ear and read the headlines.
It’s only the alumni and graduating students who want us to pay more for athletics. Why not? It won’t cost them anything. Make the state and city pay for the soccer stadium and physical field improvements. It’s state property isn’t it? Why should we have to dig into our pockets now when they will tax us for it later anyway? STOP SPENDING MY MONEY FOR ME. I voted no with 4,000 other students. Respect our will.
Here’s a lesson about the BLR; Students said “NO” by two to one. Respect that instead of figuring out how to worm around their responsible decision. Show some CIVIC and SOCIAL pride. If you want more athletics, pay for it yourself (or in reality have mommy and daddy pay for it) and leave our wallets ALONE. That’s a simple cure. If I want to go to a movie, I pay my way. Charge more for tickets to sporting events. That way, those who want to watch sports can pay their own way. Those attempting to tax everybody else are the ones who are university dead weight because they want others to foot the bill for their entertainment.
The only way you can understand the impacts of institutional racism is to be its victim. I spelled out much in argument but the Daily 49er censored them. You can learn more by taking some classes about the ethnic experience right here at CSULB, but most of you are too blind and ignorant to take such courses. Try taking some Africana Studies, Chicano Studies, Asian Studies, or even Women Studies classes. Attempt some sociology, psychology or economics classes and learn about the pain in communities of color via exclusion. Nah, that would take too much time. People like “Race card” would rather revert to name callling and simple-minded rhetoric than to actually become educated at the university. It’s easy to see these people will never effect positive social change because they’re too wrapped up in sports.
I don’t want a good education, I want to watch sports. It excites me to see jocks chasing each others balls. Spend more money on sports and quit wasting it on academics. Bring back 49er football.
I think we learned a lesson from the all-knowing razaadvocate today, folks. If you support the BLR, you are a hateful, bigoted racist. No questions asked. No argument needed. Plain and simple.
I laid out a full argument about Rick McCallum’s bigoted comments, but unfortunately they were censored by this newspaper. I was a Mexican American student in the first wave at the end of the 60s and all of his claims come from a white perspective, including the administrative piece of public relations crap “Beach Review” We were hated by whites into the 1970s and they let us know about it. We protested the old administration building because of the overwhelmingly disproportionate numbers of Mexican American, Blacks and Mexicans being drafted into the army and sent to the front lines to die. Public universities were built to provide opportunities to low income and minority youth to access higher education. With the trend our state government is taking, many won’t have that chance. Raising fees to enhance athletics will only compound these problems faced by innercity young people. McCallum makes the same claims many of the KKK made during the 1930s and 1960s, small wonder. Claiming to understand the ethnic experience because his grandfather had some ethnic blood is offensive. You only comprehend marginalization, discrimination and racism if you’ve been its first hand victim, as I have been. It is time for a movement because our state government and our higher education systems are targeting the poor to be the first victims of exclusion. L.A. is eliminating summer school in K-12 and community colleges this summer; put faces on that and you’ll notice more people of color than white. How long, if ever, will it take for these youngsters to be able to access a university? At the very least, Rick puts a name to racism and social elitism. Read it carefully, but keep a distance from his ideology.
Addendum to Rick: If I included my real name I have no doubt you would show up on my doorstep in a white hood gripping a burning cross.
Consider me for employment? My son now runs the company and considers others for employment. We live off the money we saved and invested and I expect to live for another 30 years. After taking a two year leave, I got 4.0 GPA’s. Hope yours are as good or better.
I don’t understand how the ubiquitous term of racsim got into this thread, but let’s go there. I’ve got news for you, minority students were at LBSU long before the 1970’s. Take a moment and read the Beach Review and count how many are minorities. Go to the campus library and look at the old yearbook issues in the archives. All minorities, ethnic and racial. Is the racism you describe, is it true racism based on race, Negroid, Mongloid, Cauacasian etc. or are you defining racism as ethnic discrimination based on country of origin. Two different animals that need to be defined. But you used the term so you do the defining.
And those demonstrations I know all about them because I was there, at the old adminstration building on 7th. I can understand the reason for those demonstrations because there was a horrible senseless war that eventually lead to nothing but defeat. I lost 2 very close friends for nothing and the third served in I Corps as a infrantryman during the Second Tet Offensive. He could have roamed the Mendocino woods, but instead he is a CPA today.
What is your casue or purpose to demonstrate. Ethnic discrimination? I know about that too. My grandfather was a very intelligent man and he and his family were treated like dogs by the ‘English’ people who controlled the country. He kept his mouth shut but in the meantime to help his people being discriminated against, he founded a grocery store where they could shop for their ethnic needs. He didn’t wimper or moan or demonstrate. He took positive action. The store is still there today. He built something. What are you building besdies discontent. You are using this situation for your own personal advancement, not the universitiy’s well being. Who knows maybe you’ll run for mayor someday or marry the mayor like LBSU alumna Raigosa did. (His orignal name was Antonio Villa.)
As I said if you don’t want to support atheltics and enjoy a complete university envionment, transfer to a school that doesn’t have athletics. I hope you can find one as good and for a lower cost. I know you can’t. You guys are getting the best education for the lowest cost possible. I don’t think you can smell the roses. The grass isn’t as green as at LBSU. If you transfer you and I will both be happier and there won’t be any demonstrations.
I can tell you have never applied for a job and been through the interview process with a big name firm. But when you mention LBSU, listen to hear the interviewer’s response. I will be either 1) we have hired many good people for that school or 2) you guys have good baseball or basketball teams. You will not hear a word about academic achievements. That’s why atheltics is important to you – IT GIVES YOU AN OPENING TO THE INTERVIEW PROCESS WITH A GOOD FIRM! For example, Arizona State is a lesser academic institution than LBSU, but because of their athletic programs many people think it is better. Not true. Wake up, the fees are not that great and you’ll get gret benefit down the road.
I am not an athletic elitiist. I understand that athletics has nothing to do with educating anyone except athletes. But I also understand that it enhaces the prestige, albeit erroneously, of a university. It is the simple, best marketing tool a university has to garner better quality students which in the process enhances your degree, if you get one, tand the university’s perceived academic reputation.
And one more thing, at least have the decency and politeness to use your real name, like I do.
A notice has been sent out to all student activist groups to read the elitist mentality dominating this article. I bet the next anti-BLR rally will have more than 18. Tried to warn you, dip squat. Keep fanning the flames of discontent.
I love how all of you jock-brained morons keep espousing “if you don’t like athletics fees go somewhere else” as if that’s a solution to any problem other than having a jock strap for a brain. As far as “Evan has pride. Do you?” I have a degree, does Evan? Hell no. He sucked the university for what it was worth to get to the big leagues, which is the athletic mindset and I don’t condemn success, but he didn’t accomplish what the other 35,000 students come here for; get an education. Not everybody attending CSULB is a gifted athlete and sports won’t help their future opportunities a lick. Before jumping on how much sports means to a university degree, explain how a baseball star will help one be a better nurse, engineer or business person. In case you haven’t been to a job fair, they don’t care about what successful sports teams your college has when they consider you for employment. They care about the actual work you did while you were in school. Tucker may have only mentioned BLR once, but he referred to the need for more fee/tuition throughout his article. To the dumb ass who mentioned the 18 at the anti-BLR rally; there was no need because students were duped into thinking they defeated it; as if their voices and votes really mattered. IF KING Brings this to the ‘bored’ of trustees again, there will be a backlash and protest reminiscent of the early 1970s when the first minority students were allowed admission. ANY MORE FEES ARE A THREAT TO THE ENTIRE UNIVERSITY BECAUSE THEY WILL REVISIT THE PATTERN OF WHITE SUPREMACY PRACTICED BEFORE MINORITIES WERE ALLOWED IN.
Found this today. I think you should read it and think about the recognition the univeristy has garnered because of a Dirtbag. Notice the interviewer doesn’t ask where he went to school. He knew. And think about Evan’s answer.
thnk you actions make him proud?
Q: You’re from Southern California. You went to Long Beach State University. Do you have a sense for how much you’re respected there ?
Longoria:: I love Southern California. I love the people I grew up with and played with in Long Beach. Any time I have the chance to go home or the chance to do something in that community, I always jump on the opportunity, because where you grow up is your roots.
Evan has roots. Do you? Evan has pride. Do YOU?
If you don’t want to pay for athletics then don’t enrole in a university with D-1 programs. There were plenty of options when you applied. CSUDH comes to mind.
You people should be ashamed of yourselves for calling into question a reporter doing his job. Tucker is just giving you the facts, even if you don’t like them. You owe him an apology. Your attitude is showing.
It doesn’t matter if you are sick or tired of the name Dirtbags because it is the most recognizable name in bseball. People across the country know it is your baseball team. It gives your univerity the recognition you need. The Fullerton people would kill for the moniker. Mention you are/were a 49er and they will ask if you went to UNC Charlotte. Mention your baseball team is the Dirbags and they will now you went to Long Beach State. The university needs this market recogniton, and they are they only reconizable item it has. No one except the Ivy’s care about academic reputation as recognition factor. It is marketing 101.
Someone said they did not chose LBSU because of athletics. If athletics are not important to you , I suggest you to to DeVry, National, Phoenix or Argosy of an other univeristy without athletics. Instead of a small fee for athletics, you get to pay a huge tuition with a profit in mind and a shareholder waiting to get their cut of your tuition. Besdies none of them have athletic teams. You’ll be right at thome.
I and my wife went to LBSU. We were neither affluent. We worked as busboys and salespoeple in dpeartment stores even after graduation. We understand the price you need to pay to get that door-opening degree. After that the rest is up to you. I wish you success after graduation, but with the attitudes you have I find it hard to believe you’ll find it.
If you don’t want a complete university experience, then go to a university that offers what you want.
Someone said they did not attend LBSU because of athletics. If it is not your interest, go to DeVry or Argosy and you won’t have to pay a fee to support athletics. Instead you’ll pay tuition to support stockholders. There is no free lunch in life. You are either part of the solution or the problem. I wish you would become DeVry’s problem.
Dirtbags! Everyone in the country knows the Dirtbags, but they think the 49ers are UNC Charlotte. It doesn’t matter if the name is different, it works and it gives the university name recognition.
Even in its best seasons, the number one draw — men’s basketball — only averages about 1,500 fans per game, and most of those are unpaid students. It’s easy to imagine the other @34,000 seeing a NEED to dump athletics programs other than intracollegiate during our economic crisis. I agree with ‘blah blah’ that those who truly love LBSU athletics should stop fanning the flames if they don’t want to see a major movement to eliminate our sports programs. The ones who wish to anger already ticked off and hurting students aren’t very mature. Learn to control your emotions while you still have athletics. Or don’t; that’s entirely up to you. But you’ll see a lot of negative things happen. Been there and seen that.
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Excuse me, but the people “fanning the flames” in this instance are the BLR opponents who had to inject their anti-BLR agenda into a comments section for a column that was PRIMARILY about the Dirtbags. The writer makes reference to the BLR in one freakin’ sentence in this story and that’s what you guys chose to pick apart? He did not take a strong stance either way about the BLR and the BLR opponents still got all butthurt and decided to attack him for it.
Keep up the elitist chatter and watch the revolt. Arnold just announced he is cutting all Cal Grants, the bored passed another 10 percent fee increase, millions of people are losing jobs and homes, and some of you spoiled, spoon fed chit for brains idiots are pushing for more money to be spent on athletics. The more you dumb asses side against your fellow students, the more they will become inflamed and protest. They may even ask for a referendum to eliminate or suspend all athletics programs until the economy is better. CSULB will become known as a campus of student unrest and nobody will want to invest in anything, including athletics. The BLR property investments are for STATE property (real estate that is permanent) and should be paid for by the STATE. The BLR lists the city of Long Beach throughout as a major beneficiary; so let the city of Long Beach bear the burden by paying its share. In the meantime, I would suggest not goading students with “go to dominguez hills” or “go to a trade school” That elitism will only piss off the ones paying for current athletics into hating all sports programs—and there are more who DON’T see athletics as a priority than those who DO!!!! WAAAAAAAY more.
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You are sadly mistaking if you think athletics is going anywhere. I know you anti-athletics students would LOOOOVE to abolish all teams. I guess getting the school’s name out and, in the process, boosting your school’s profile for potential employers means nothing to you. Yeah why don’t you do that? Go ahead and start a movement to get rid of athletics. Rally all 18 people who bothered to show up to that anti-BLR rally a month ago and try to get rid of all sports. See how that works for you. Oh, and I’d learn how to distinguish between “board” and “bored” before I pop off and call someone else a dumb ass.
Those who don’t want athletics as part of the overall experience should drop out. Sports is what makes universities thrive. The only way to make your degree more valuable is to have successful sports teams and that takes money, pure and simple. GO BEACH!
If it comes down to a choice between athletics and academic opportunity at any major public university, I guarantee we won’t be going to sports events with our logo on the marquee in the long run. The people saying “If you don’t like althletics go to” another college are knuckleheads and should be reading more books. We’ll stay here and take back our university. LBSU was built on academics and sports came later, not the other way around.
Even in its best seasons, the number one draw — men’s basketball — only averages about 1,500 fans per game, and most of those are unpaid students. It’s easy to imagine the other @34,000 seeing a NEED to dump athletics programs other than intracollegiate during our economic crisis. I agree with ‘blah blah’ that those who truly love LBSU athletics should stop fanning the flames if they don’t want to see a major movement to eliminate our sports programs. The ones who wish to anger already ticked off and hurting students aren’t very mature. Learn to control your emotions while you still have athletics. Or don’t; that’s entirely up to you. But you’ll see a lot of negative things happen. Been there and seen that.
Keep up the elitist chatter and watch the revolt. Arnold just announced he is cutting all Cal Grants, the bored passed another 10 percent fee increase, millions of people are losing jobs and homes, and some of you spoiled, spoon fed chit for brains idiots are pushing for more money to be spent on athletics. The more you dumb asses side against your fellow students, the more they will become inflamed and protest. They may even ask for a referendum to eliminate or suspend all athletics programs until the economy is better. CSULB will become known as a campus of student unrest and nobody will want to invest in anything, including athletics. The BLR property investments are for STATE property (real estate that is permanent) and should be paid for by the STATE. The BLR lists the city of Long Beach throughout as a major beneficiary; so let the city of Long Beach bear the burden by paying its share. In the meantime, I would suggest not goading students with “go to dominguez hills” or “go to a trade school” That elitism will only piss off the ones paying for current athletics into hating all sports programs—and there are more who DON’T see athletics as a priority than those who DO!!!! WAAAAAAAY more.
If you want to go to a school where you don’t want athletics to “get in the way of your education” just pack up and leave for dominguez hills or csu la. more than 70000 apply to Long Beach State each year so you can easily be replaced by students who will actually give a damn about improving the overall campus experience.
I did not bring up the BLR to show allegiance to it nor do I value athletics over education. But as the baseball program has hit a rough spot the economics do play a part just as they do in so many other things at Long Beach and in much further reaching places.
At the end of the day it’s a game, and a small facet of the university. Not once do I say the students should pay extra to help the baseball team. I pay for my tuition out of pocket and even as an ardent supporter of athletics I don’t support large-scale increases in fees since they continue to add them for other reasons like the CA budget crisis and because so many students are un-interested in athletics.
Don’t read between the lines here. This is simply a reflection on where the baseball program is, and how they got there, not a PR piece for the BLR or any other CSULB sponsored program.
If today’s students prefer to slip below Division 1 in sports, then I will just slip out of the donation equation. Class rooms and teacher salaries are the responsibility of the State, you know the bankrupt one. Athletics are the resposnibility of the students and alumni, you know the ones who do not care. If the current students do not care and LBSU goes D2, my attention, physical and monetarrily will go elsewhere. You reap what you sow.
California students are CODDLED more than in other states. I worked, went to classes, studied, and still had time for athletic events, when I went to LB.
Suck it up and make something of yourselves. Going to college just to go to class is NOT what the college experience is for. If you desire that, attend a trade school or tech school then!
LB students have zero pride today. Show some unity and pride. I feel sorry for you losers when the free lunch ends and reality of the real world sets in. You’ll be drowning in your tears while mommy is wiping them away. I hope the president reads this board, because he will soon realize he’s been coddling you too long. Cut the cord and quit suckin tit.
LB students have zero pride today. Show some unity and pride. I feel sorry for you losers when the free lunch ends and reality of the real world sets in. You’ll be drowning in your tears while mommy is wiping them away. I hope the president reads this board, because he will soon realize he’s been coddling you too long. Cut the cord and quit suckin tit.
Give me a break. “California’s budget crisis continues to plague the CSU system.” Stop using hidden terms, Tuck. It’s plaguing students and their families, not the “CSU system.” Taking the human face out of the equation is a puny public relations gimmick. Are you a sports writer or a PR flak? We’re not talking about a “system” but are talking about human lives; the person who sits next to you in class who has to work extra hours and has less time to study is the one being plagued. The inner city high school student who won’t be able to afford college next year is the one being plagued, not the “CSU system.” The family facing losing their home to mortgage foreclosure are the ones being plagued, not the “CSU system” Leave the whining hard sell to the athletic director and employ some honesty in your reporting.
Tucker is trying to start an anti-athletics movement! The more you promote the BLR and other athletic fees, the more you’re going to piss students off. We’re tired of other people spending our money.
The sports department should step up their fundraising game and leave my money alone. Sports is not what attracted me to CSULB and sports won’t mean anything to my future employers. My engineering degree will speak for itself if I can afford to stick it out with the annual tuition increases. I keep paying more and getting less. NO MORE FEES.
Your argument is weak and tired about raising student fees for athletics. You said it yourself Tucker, “The Dirtbags will continue to thrive at the highest level as those 11 guys from the 2008 draft class strive to join their ex-teammates and friends in the big leagues. More will join them in the years to come.” The players will continue coming to LBSU because they know the pro scouts scour the Dirtbags and that is probably their only opportunity to make it to the bigs. Throwing more money at the programs only guarantee that many players who currently get the exposure opportunity will be turned away by higher caliber recruits. A public university is meant to give opportunities to youth who might otherwise not have opportunity, including many of the current Dirtbags. But what you’re arguing in your article for elitism at a public school. Why not make it so no poor people can attend college at all?
Sure it’s nice that a program strives for elitism in competition, but higher level recruits will continue their junior exodus to the big leagues no matter what. Explain how an institution of higher education loses integrity when athletes fail to graduate, leaving as juniors. Isn’t a university’s priority supposed to be education? That’s where our scarce resources should be directed right now.
The students voted no resoundingly on the BLR. We also could use new classrooms and more course offerings so we don’t have to stay at LBSU on the six-year undergraduate plan. Be realistic. The logjam we’re going to face in the next decade because undergrads have to stay longer will mean fewer people get into public universities. If President Alexander disrespects that vote, the backlash will significantly tarnish his and our public image. If the athletics program wants city property like Blair Field to be renovated, tell the city to do it with taxpayer money.
Better yet, the students, alumni and athletes that put sports as a university priority should pull the money out of their pockets rather than taxing those of us who come here for academics. The referendum was supposed to give students a choice and they made one. This is not the time to spend @ $6 million a year to benefit a handful of student athletes while everybody else has to suffer. Stop being a narrowly-focused BLR shill and pushing the athletic department’s PR crap down our throats. Are you sleeping with Bob Keisser?
It says it in the article, 20 years ago. It started in 1989 when the team went to Omaha for the first time with a rag-tag bunch and they have been good ever since. The rest of LBSU’s teams go by the 49ers.
I am so sick of the name DIRTBAGS, when did the name officially change from the Forty Niners?