Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Sporting News: Matt Hayes answers reader questions

Q:  This (the stadium renovation) is a very complex project at California and there is a lot of red tape the university has to go through to get this done. Jeff Tedford is well aware of this and has never mentioned any disgust in regards to this publicly. I have no doubt that if it was solely up to the administration we would be in the construction phase already. The major factor in the delays is the ongoing lawsuit the university is facing. While things get sorted out legally, nothing can be done. I hardly count this as "delaying".

Brian

Los Angeles

 

A:  Two things: 1.) the Cal administration has known for more than two years of Tedford's ultimatum (new facilities or I'm gone), and 2.) the university has understood that the Hayward Fault has run under the stadium (an all of East Bay) since time began. Of course someone, or some people, or some group (see: city council) was going to have issues with the facilities plan. It's a given at any university on any campus. Here's a hint: plan ahead for it.  Sure enough, the Berkley City Council filed suit in November 2006 to stop the facility upgrades, and a court approved it last month. Let's not be naive and think the Cal administration didn't know this was coming. It's all about what's important. And if keeping a football coach isn't high on the list of priorities, that's fine. I don't have a problem with that. But don't strut and state you're doing everything you can when, in reality, you're not.   Tedford is a college guy and Cal is the perfect fit for him. I hope it gets done. But this thing is a long way from playing out, and that's not a good sign for Cal's chances to hold onto Tedford.

Here’s the link.

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