Spring Sports Put SDSU in High Places at Low, Low Prices

Getting what you pay for might work in housing, automobiles, clothes, appliances, groceries and wine, but it seems to have absolutely no relationship to athletic success at San Diego State University.

If I’m looking for a house in Rancho Santa Fe, I think I’d call Jim Dietz. I figure he’d find a perfectly fine 5,000-square foot cabin for maybe $50,000.

If I’m looking for a Rolls Royce, I think I’d call Jack Henn. I figure he’d find a 1992 for maybe $15,000.

If I’m looking for a bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild, I think I’d call Diana Falar. I figure she’d find a case for maybe $100.

You see, these are people who are accustomed to getting a whole lot for not much. These are coaches who work in what might be called the ghetto of SDSU’s athletic department. These are coaches whose budgets are written with a machete.

These people coach spring sports.

In truth, spring sports are not high on the financial pecking order at any universities, but rarely are they as fiscally strapped as they are at SDSU. They have budget budgets.

Men’s track and field, for example, has 1.25 men’s scholarships and 1.5 women’s scholarships. It’s kind of hard to put together a relay team with a budget like that. NCAA rules allow 14 men’s scholarships and 16 women’s scholarships.

Jim Cerveny earned $10,000 this year as one of SDSU’s track coaches. He had previously made $54,000 as head coach. He is losing his job, however, because even the $10,000 isn’t there.

Track and field, he said, has gone from a budget of $215,000 to $129,500.

Diana Falar, the women’s golf coach, had three players and a $10,400 budget. That did not include the coach’s salary, but that’s appropriate. Her position has been eliminated, and men’s golf coach Denny Stolz will handle both men and women.

Track and field and women’s golf are typical of what happens in the springtime at SDSU. Coaches and athletes alike set out with empty pockets and full schedules in pursuit of success.

Something else is typical of SDSU’s spring sports.

They find success .

One of the more high profile spring sports, baseball, made a miraculous run to win the Western Athletic Conference tournament and begins NCAA play Thursday in Fresno.

Women’s track finished second at the WAC meet. Cerveny and Rhan Sheffield were named co-coaches of the year. Sprinter Darla Vaughn was co-athlete of the year.

Men’s track and field finished third at the WAC meet and Gary Stathas was named co-coach of the year.

Women’s softball had its best record ever, 26-20-1, and tied for second in the WAC.

Women’s golf had three players and one of them, Wendy Kaupp, won the WAC championship.

Men’s volleyball finished the season ranked fifth in the nation.

Women’s tennis won the WAC championship.

Men’s tennis finished second in the WAC.

What we have here is a study in incongruity. The “income” sports, football and men’s basketball, lose money while experiencing modest success, at best, and non-revenue sports enjoy success while their budgets suffer because income sports do not produce income.

“You look back three, four, five years,” said Cerveny, “and you’ll notice non-revenue sports are the ones ranked nationally. They are the ones that have a lot of success, but get little publicity and very little money.”

True enough. An SDSU fan who wants to read about good teams has to get past the front page. The real good teams are on the back pages, often in the small type.

“We have kids playing with their hearts,” said Falar. “We have kids who are playing because they want to be here and get an education, not for what it might get them in the future.”

Spring’s kids are not glory kids. Glory isn’t there and money isn’t there, but success does not elude them.

This is a pull together time of year.

Last week, for example, SDSU hosted the WAC track championships. It was quite an undertaking, but the track coaching staff had help.

“A lot of the non-revenue coaches were out there helping us,” Cerveny said. “They want to be part of it. When something comes up, everyone chips in. It’s kind of like a neighbor’s barn burns down and everyone pitches in to build it up.”

At SDSU, the barn is burning and these springtime neighbors are in that barn. They must spend what little money they have on asbestos uniforms.