THE COLLEGES / IRENE GARCIA : CSUN Football Team Undermining Itself

The Cal State Northridge football team has received ample attention lately and it has nothing to do with its performance on the field.

Let’s face it, a struggling program on the verge of extinction would not merit such a spotlight.

In CSUN’s case, the attention is related to incidents off the field: rejection of a referendum, which could lead to elimination of the program, a player charged with a felony allowed to compete, and the latest. . . .

Let’s just say when the going gets tough, Northridge football players get going. As in walking out.

Last season the team boycotted practice, citing a growing dissatisfaction with the level of funding for the cost-containment program.

On Tuesday, a handful of players, among them key starters, boycotted practice but refused to reveal why.

It won’t do any good to ask Coach Bob Burt.

The coach seemed puzzled by Tuesday’s action and said: “I’m sure I’ll find out when they tell me what the reasons are. I honestly don’t know.”

How could a coach not know what’s going on with his team, especially when one player indicated that coaching was among the grievances that led to the boycott?

Another player admitted he didn’t know what was going on but followed the rest of the gang.

Those who attended Tuesday’s practice also said they had no idea why their teammates walked out.

Perhaps these last two cases best describe what’s happening with the football team at Northridge.

Nobody knows what’s going on and the program has shifted into a state of disarray.

The team already has had two big distractions this season.

A starter was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder, causing controversy when the school allowed him to compete as if nothing had happened.

Recently, the student body delivered a big blow when it voted against a controversial student-fee referendum. That rejection could result in the football program’s elimination.

Now this.

One can’t help but wonder what these players hope to accomplish with this latest action.

Perhaps they think it will motivate administrators to scramble for the funding that could save the program.

Or maybe they think this will arouse a sudden interest among the same student body that basically voted to get rid of football.

Maybe they’re looking for sympathy.

A more realistic guess is that Tuesday’s demonstration isn’t going to help the players’ cause.

In fact, the incident will probably work against the football program. It probably will assure the students who rejected the referendum that they made the right decision.

Who needs a program that brings the school so much bad publicity?

Burt guessed on Tuesday that perhaps the latest incident was related to players’ frustration with the team’s problem-plagued season and 3-5 record.

That would make CSUN football players losers, on and off the field. If you can’t win, might as well quit.

In these tough financial times, who wants to spend extra money to fund a team infested with losers?

If it survives the athletic department’s drastic financial problems, the Northridge football team should find a better way to gain attention.

Perhaps demonstrating a winning attitude, both on and off the field, would be a start.

Another suggestion: Improve the lines of communication between the coach and his athletes. That way he’ll know what’s going on with his team, for a change.