Cassidy Did Well Under the Circumstances

Mike Hiserman’s commentary about Northridge basketball Coach Pete Cassidy misses the point.

Where does the article say that Cassidy was in the hospital recovering from a life-threatening surgical procedure when the Cal State Los Angeles game was played?

Where does it say how little Northridge has given Cassidy to spend each year (including this last one) to develop a superior program?

Where does it say how much more all the other Division II schools spent to attract top athletes during the last 10 years?

Where does it say how much money has been spent on football over the years to develop a “who cares” program in a community with the choice to see USC or UCLA on the same weekends? A fraction of this could fund a winning program and make Northridge a factor in Division I basketball.

Let’s be fair. The community wants a winning program. So does Pete Cassidy. For a change, let’s quit shooting the messenger when we get bad news and address the real issue. The Times could be very instrumental in bringing a major basketball program to the Northridge campus. Actually, Mr. Hiserman did say one thing that was correct in his article. . . . You get what you pay for!

Pete Cassidy, with minimum funding, is a multiple winner of coach-of-the-year honors. I’d love to see what he could do with a competitively funded program.

BARRY DANTAGNAN, Cal State Northridge, Class of 1966, Tarzana