Cleveland Set to Take the Plunge

Heard the line about the sadist who offered a glass of water to the drowning man?

Doesn’t strike many funny bones at Cleveland High, where administrators nearly had it up to their nose plugs with the wet stuff and all that it entails.

Three years in the making, the new swimming pool at Cleveland is finally set to open this month--barring further complications from Mother Nature.

A pool party in January? It’s only fitting.

The pool, erected by the L.A. Recreation and Parks Department on school property, has been equal parts godsend and white elephant, says Cleveland Athletic Director Everett Macy.

Ground was broken three years ago, Macy said, but the project has been beset by problems, most notably a high-water table in the area surrounding the Reseda campus.

The structure almost became an engineering marvel--the first swimming pool to sink and drown.

As construction began, pumps were in operation 24 hours a day to keep the project from refilling with ground water. It was part pool, part swamp. Cleveland could have won a City Section mud-wrestling title.

Ground water, with the region in the throes of a serious drought, was pumped by the barrel through a fire hose and into a storm drain on nearby Strathern Street. Of course, thousands of gallons of water would later be needed to fill the pool. No wonder it’s pronounced Parks and Wreck Department.

Because of the ground water, school officials cracked that the pool had become a concrete boat of sorts--waterproof inside and out.

Heavy construction equipment was parked on school grounds for weeks, months, years. Once the design problems were overcome, the ribbon-cutting ceremony was set for Jan. 18, 1994.

Date sound a little familiar?

Snip, snip, became glub, glub. No diving off the deep end just yet, pal. No roughhousing, no horseplay.

Talk about a splashdown. David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson were called in to administer CPR.

Trouble was, the Northridge earthquake damaged the pool on the 17th. Out came the water, out came the guys with hard hats and blueprints. The project was back in agua caliente and the school again was forced to tread you-know-what.

It took another 53 weeks to bring the much-anticipated facility back up to speed. Some think the Metrolink project is cursed?

Thus, Grand Opening II, featuring an elected city dignitary or two, is set for Jan. 26.

The watershed moment, so to speak, is finally at hand. The Cleveland administration is elated.

“It’s a beautiful facility,” Macy said. “We’ve been waiting a long time. . . . And we’ll have it ready in time for swimming season, at least.”

Macy won’t want to hear this, but 12 months ago, he said precisely the same thing.

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Titlist: There are credentials and there are credentials.

Hart pulled off quite a coup when Jason Gore volunteered to serve as an assistant coach for the school’s successful golf team.

Gore, a former Hart standout, won the Pacific 10 Conference individual championship the past two seasons. However, claiming burnout and stress, Gore left Arizona after winning his second Pac-10 title last spring, moved back to Santa Clarita and enrolled at College of the Canyons.

He isn’t playing this season and will be a junior in the fall when he transfers to Pepperdine. Meanwhile, he’ll be keeping his game sharp by burying the folks at his alma mater.

“Now I can come back and win the Burbank (High) tournament,” Gore said.

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Eraser: Bombs were falling up the coast. The report and impact was felt in Crescenta Valley.

When Chad Bickley started firing three-point shots Dec. 28, records began falling like empty bottles off a picket fence. Among the marks that toppled was the state career record of 387 three-pointers established by Adam Jacobsen, a 1993 graduate of Crescenta Valley High.

Bickley, a 6-foot-1 senior guard for Santa Maria Valley Christian Academy, set a national record with a dizzying 21 three-point baskets in a 118-70 victory over Sacramento Citadel.

Bickley had 79 points and broke his record of 20 three-pointers established last season. With his fifth three-pointer against Citadel, Bickley surpassed Jacobsen, who is a sophomore starter at University of the Pacific.

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Good cop, bad cop: David Enowitz never wore the black hat as an assistant coach over the past five seasons at Grant, where Coach Howard Levine handled discipline and upper-register bellowing.

Now a first-year coach at Reseda, the 27-year-old isn’t sure he likes what he’s gotten himself into.

“It’s going pretty tough,” Enowitz said, sounding fatigued.

Late last month, Enowitz kicked 6-foot-6 senior forward Akua Floyd off the team. Floyd was the team’s best player, averaging 11.1 points and six rebounds, but had a hair trigger and confrontational nature, Enowitz said.

Enowitz, not wanting to play the heavy, issued several warnings before he pulled the trigger.

“It was the toughest thing I’ve ever done,” Enowitz said. “I really liked him a lot.”

Since Floyd was removed, Reseda (4-9) has won two games in a row. Nonetheless, Enowitz continues to be bothered by the dismissal. The coach even extended an invitation for Floyd to watch practice from the stands if he wants to.

“I guess I don’t always get to be the good guy anymore,” Enowitz said.

Staff writer Vince Kowalick contributed to this notebook.