49ers’ Greenberg Hit With Religious Slur

An anti-Semitic epithet, apparently directed at Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg, was discovered Monday night on the grease board in the visitors’ locker room at the Pan American Center, New Mexico State’s arena, Long Beach and New Mexico State officials said.

Long Beach assistant coach Jason Levy and the players found it when they arrived at the arena for Monday night’s 76-63 Big West Conference loss to New Mexico State.

Greenberg, who is Jewish, was distraught by the message.

“It’s shocking that this thing can happen in this day and age,” said Greenberg. “My parents told me about these things happening, but you’re still shocked.

“It’s a slap in the face. It’s a slap in the face to society and maybe it’s a reflection of this community. It’s sickening, but I hope it’s just a reflection of one sick individual.”

New Mexico State officials were disturbed by the message. However, they were unable to explain how it might have been written on the board that coaches use to diagram plays.

Athletic Director Al Gonzales was out of town and unavailable for comment. Steve Shutt, New Mexico State assistant athletic director, media relations, said an investigation will be conducted.

“I’m very disappointed that somebody would do that,” Shutt said. “On behalf of our university, I apologize to Coach Greenberg. This should not be a reflection on this university.”

“We have to see who has access to that room,” Shutt said. “I know that grease board is locked. First we have to see who has a key to it.”

When contacted at home, Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell expressed concern about the incident. He said he plans to talk with New Mexico State officials today.

“We would certainly be interested in any eyewitness accounts,” Farrell said. “We will try to find out when the locker room was turned over to Long Beach, if it was secure to the outside world prior to then, and who might have had access.

“It’s possible that this is something that could have been done by any student on campus at some time during the day. In any case, this is very troubling.”

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Forward Enoch Davis scored a career-high 33 points to lead New Mexico State to the Big West victory. Long Beach, 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the Big West, has lost two consecutive games and three of its last four. The Aggies (5-10, 2-5) stopped a five-game losing streak.

* Staff writer John Weyler contributed to this story.