Bubb, Baldwin Disciplined For Cover-up

Cal State Northridge will suspend Athletic Director Paul Bubb and has reprimanded football Coach Dave Baldwin for their roles in the cover-up of a shooting incident last month that involved a Northridge football player.

Baldwin, who is in his second year as coach of his alma mater, lied when he told reporters that running back Shayne Blakey would miss the upcoming season while he recovered from appendicitis.

Blakey had been wounded by gunfire at an off-campus party.

In a statement issued Tuesday, university president Blenda J. Wilson announced that Baldwin will receive a letter of reprimand and Bubb, who administrators blame for failing to stop the spread of the story, will be suspended without pay for five days.

Blakey has been suspended from the team for the season for violating team and athletic department rules. If he chooses to stay at Northridge, he will lose a year of eligibility.

“We were wrong in our actions,” Bubb said. “The university has taken the actions they feel they needed to take. I accept the disciplinary action that has been handed down.”

Northridge was in its first week of practice last month when a reporter asked Baldwin why Blakey, a transfer from Antelope Valley College, was walking with a cane on the sideline.

Baldwin’s response--that Blakey was recovering from an appendectomy--was first published on Aug. 16. Bubb said he knew then that the coach had lied, but Baldwin repeated his explanation to another reporter on Aug. 19.