Huffins out at Cal

No need to get so defensive! Learn to laugh at yourself and any little mistakes you might make!

I read you article to be informed, didn't need to pick through it or analyze it, but enjoyed it. I appreciate the effort you put into providing true track fans with information, it does not reflect your compensation of 0.04 cents / word but your love of track. The truth is that the tone of too many of the posts has been unecessarily unpleasant-yours not included-so I felt that sarcasm ( the lowest form of wit) might be a welcome break.

I don't profess any expertise in the throwing events as you suggest but consider myself a fan of all track and field. Yes, I will confess happily to having a bias for the throws.

While very pleased that Cal qualified three throwers-don't give a hoot how many UCLA qualified to be honest!

How about that young decathlete? A PR in what I'd guess was the bigegst meet of his career..bet Ed is smiling and hope that smile will widen later with the women's and men's high jump!

p.s. I was a scholarship track athlete and can never repay Cal for the life changing opportunity I was given.

p.s. I was a little surprised by the "tone" of Crumpacker's article. But was n't it more of an "opinion" article than reporting facts? There is simply no positive to be gained by attacking the current coaching staff at Cal, especially when it is just possibly a distraction to the athletes. I might, repeat might, question Jennifer Joyce's selection as coach based on lack of experience but never on her sex. Age relative to those being coached would, I presume, present a challenge for a coach of either sex. I assume that the new head coach will have the option of retaining any of the current assistants and guess that decision might be driven by what her or his strenghts are etc etc .

Old Blue wrote:

How about that young decathlete? A PR in what I'd guess was the bigegst meet of his career..bet Ed is smiling and hope that smile will widen later with the women's and men's high jump!

p.s. I was a scholarship track athlete and can never repay Cal for the life changing opportunity I was given.

Stephen Conrad was unbelievable.

Without a doubt, the BIGGEST competition of his young career. If he could have taken almost 4 seconds off of his 1500m time, he would have made the Top 10. Detmer, Jangy, and Arnold were tough as nails.

Ed Wright takes the stage at 3pm.

:)

Track Dude,

My problem with your article was that it was inundated with so many quotes from Cal's athletic director. Being on "the inside" she is a reliable source for "the truth" about the goings-on within the program. However, what she chooses to tell the public is completely unreliable (not incorrect, just unreliable) due to her position. Her job is to make the program sound good even if it's bad. She is paid to be an optimist in spite of results that would demonstrate poor coaching. That you were granted an interview puts your reliability into question. If you report enough evidence shown to be unfavorable to the program, she will not grant you further interviews. So while you would appear to occupy a position of authority, your position and desire for a continuance as a confidant actually undermines your attempt to show Cal's program in a true light; in a balanced light.

Going to Barbour is going to the source, but most likely you aren't getting the truth. You become more like a herald than a journalist.

You write well enough, but you article was as one-sided as the article in the Cron. Therefore, shame on you for railing on an "unbalanced" article and subsequently penning one yourself.

I just can't fathom why you and the other Cal-backers ignore the team results from both Cross Country and Track and Field over the years. You point to the number of individual qualifiers and the current year's ranking, and completely disregard the fact that Cal was LAST PLACE this year at PAC-10s for the men and third from last for the women. Worse, this is a CONTINUAL TREND (can I emphasis this enough?), not an anomaly.

In cross country, Cal finally finished in 3rd at Conference (which was an anomaly!) but then regressed back to the double-digit placing that has typified this programs performance through-out the year.

I urge you to take into consideration more data than I believe you have in your assessment of the program. Perhaps think about your sources who, while primary, aren't in the position of divulging negative information about the program if they want to keep their jobs.

Fans of the program, while critical of the current coaches, are passionate about Cal improving over their dismal performances of the past decade or so. We see the current coaches as the constants that are negatively affecting the program.

We only ask for a change that we believe is long overdue.

Vanamee wrote:

Track Dude,

My problem with your article was that it was inundated with so many quotes from Cal's athletic director. Being on "the inside" she is a reliable source for "the truth" about the goings-on within the program. However, what she chooses to tell the public is completely unreliable (not incorrect, just unreliable) due to her position. Her job is to make the program sound good even if it's bad. She is paid to be an optimist in spite of results that would demonstrate poor coaching. That you were granted an interview puts your reliability into question.

Your point is that you believe that I put a large amount of credence into what she told me as being unbiased. Yes, I gave the AD a podium and outlet to which to speak from. That is not lost on me. But I am also aware of other communications and relationships that put her words into an interesting light given that the Huffins resignation occurred just 8 days from the start of the NCAA's, not too mention how she sees the program moving forward in the future. Again, my primary call to her involved the "timing" of this resignation and announcement because many followers and alums of the school were most interested in the nature of the "timing" of such a decision just before NCAA's. I believe that I provided an "answer" even though it may not have been as revealing as everyone had wanted to hear.

Make no mistake . . .My report was not an "investigative" one from a journalist's point of view. I never presented it as such. Thus, I would hope that you don't have such expectations.

As you can imagine, the situation with the current coaching staff and the search for a new head coach by the AD is obviously a very fluid, dynamic, and most sensitive one. I learn of many things "off-the-record" which I am obviously not going to print. Moreover, I don't believe that anyone is fooling themselves into what kind of role an AD has in representing the school, and certainly I for one am quite aware of that.

Again, I don't get paid enough to do an "investigative" report on the program. That would require tons of hours and would be a great distraction from my full-time career.

I am aware of your concerns regarding the programs lack of emphasis on the distance events, and the cross country program in general. But again, it really does come down to what kind of a program the head coach wants to run: Specialized or Balanced, and where he wants to spend his scholarship dollars.

One more thing.

People seem to think that Cal spends a ton of money on these two programs, as compared to the rest of the conference and especially when Coach Huffins was hired to become head coach. This is not true at all. The fact of the matter is that Erv Hunt had the same budget year after year after year and never asked for any growth with his budget. In fact, the program was underfunded for scholarships up until just a couple of years ago. When Coach Huffins was hired, he received a 30% increase from all of those lowly budget years of Coach Hunt. Period.

The salaries for the Cal coaching staff are most likely around the lower third of the Pac-10, let alone NCAA. And living in the Bay Area and the cost of living that that entails also is a significant issue. Most of the former assistant coaches at Cal that have moved on to other programs have wound-up making substantially more money in their careers. That I know as a fact. Believe it or not, many coaches on the Cal staff are highly regarded by their competitors and their competitors have been "telling" them so while up in Sacramento. Trust me on that point.

If you want to see Cal track and field become stronger, with more resources and additional coaches for distance runners, throwers, etc., then I suggest getting off of the message boards on Letsrun and fire off an articulate letter to AD Sandy Barbour.

At the end of the day, it really does come down to MONEY.

That is the bottomline.

Please excuse me, I need to get back to the NCAA's.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Golden Bear wrote:

And how many Cal meets have you been to this season?

Were you at the MPSF Meet up in Seattle? How about the NCAA Indoors in Fayetteville? Pac-10's down the road in Palo Alto? How about the Big Meet down on the Farm? NCAA Regionals in Eugene? How about this week up in Sacramento at the NCAA's?

You present yourself as a passionate track and field fan, yet I am curious as to how many meets you have actually been to this season.

i've been to two track meets this year. one high school (at cal) and another college/open. the only way i would ever travel that far to watch a track meet is if i had a son/daughter competing or it was the olympics. i am, however, a passionate running fan. i love watching track, xc, and especially marathons on tv/internet

you know, back in the day, when i was still in school, i travelled to a good number of meets in the area. i even went to NCAA's the first year it was in sacto. but you will soon realize that other things in life take precedence over track once you get older. family, friends, running, and my career are all very important to me. somewhere (way) down my list of priorities are track and field meets (especially since i know few athletes that are competing).

regardless of how many meets i attend i still hope that cal does well, and i "root" for them. however, i would be much more motivated to attend the meets if i believed in what was happening there. and, if i had the money, i would contribute to the program . but i do neither of these because i don't think enough is being done to help the athletes and the program reach their true potential.

4 seconds when your lungs are burning, legs feel like lead...it's a lot and I'm no runner...let's recognize that he "done" good!! CONGRATULATIONS Stephen, more to come for sure.

but..

6th in both women's and men's high jump....co-incidence or is there some coaching going on there??? Plus 11th in the decathlon.....the cream always rises! Also great effort by Kevin Davis....So let's celebrate our BEARS!!!!

Cal girl WINS NCAA discus, guess that Joyce coach is the craps huh?

Not all, that's fantastic news. For those of us not at the meet we have to rely on the NCCA web site posting results, a process which seems to be random at best. At the time of my message the results of the women's discus were not available to me. Not only did she win but she threw a PR./school record etc.

Take the time to read my post, "I might, repeat might, question Jennifer Joyce's selection as coach based on lack of experience but never on her sex. Age relative to those being coached would, I presume, present a challenge for a coach of either sex."

Cal women's team is currently in 8th place with 16 points, that's what matters right?

Cal women take 8th and have TWO national champs!

As someone that is in their mid-40's I fully understand the demands on one's time as one gets older. However, I have seen fit to attend several home meets at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, not too mention the Pac-10's held in Palo Alto this year, as well as several days of the NCAA's.

I think that it is most unfortunate that someone like yourself that has only been to ONE COLLEGE MEET this year has been so vocal on this message board regarding the Cal program and its coaching staff and the likes of Tony Sandoval. You obviously are not current on how the program has performed in the past, what the priorities have been under Coach Huffins, what kind of budget the coaching staff works under, or have much knowledge on the current coaching, recruiting, and performance aspects of the team and the relationships inherently connected between all three of those.

Yet, you have been most vocal with your criticism.

You have had the LOUDEST BARK on this message board.

But you have only been to one college track meet.

I'm sorry, but you need to "check" yourself.

You really do.

blUe bEaR wrote:

Cal women take 8th and have TWO national champs!

1) Arizona State 60 2) LSU 49

3) Michigan 36 4) Texas A&M 34

5) UCLA 30 6) Texas 29

7) Southern California 27 8) California 26

9) Georgia 24 10) Texas Tech 23

11) South Carolina 22 12) Arkansas 17

13) Florida State 16 13) Auburn 16

15) Stanford 15 16) Houston 14

17) Texas-El Paso 13 18) Nebraska 12

19) Georgia Tech 11 20) Virginia Tech 10

20) Purdue 10 20) Wake Forest 10

20) North Carolina 10 20) Alabama 10

20) Brigham Young 10 26) TCU 9

26) Tennessee 9 26) Duke 9

26) Washington State 9 26) Mississippi 9

26) Penn State 9 26) Oregon 9

26) Weber State 9 34) Southern Illinois 8

34) Georgetown 8 34) Kansas 8

34) Texas State 8 38) Iowa 7

38) Oklahoma 7 40) Minnesota 6

40) Louisiana Tech 6 40) Syracuse 6

40) Notre Dame 6 40) Providence 6

45) North Carolina-Wilmington 5 45) Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo 5

45) Southern Methodist 5 45) Monmouth 5

45) Montana State 5 45) North Carolina State 5

45) Santa Barbara 5 45) Oral Roberts 5

45) Florida 5 54) Rice 4

54) Cornell 4 56) Michigan State 3

56) Colorado State 3 56) Fresno State 3

56) Charlotte 3 56) Washington 3

56) Texas-San Antonio 3 56) Florida International 3

56) Sam Houston State 3 64) Tulsa 2

64) Ohio State 2 64) Long Beach State 2

64) Miami 2 64) Illinois 2

64) Northern Iowa 2 64) Colorado 2

71) Tulane 1 71) Kansas State 1

71) Hampton 1 71) Missouri 1

71) Eastern Washington 1

Look, regardless of changes in funding, the priorities under coach Huffins, or any of the other bullshit smoke screens you've thrown up, the fact remains that many other teams in the state have done more with less in XC, and will continue to do so.

midwaste wrote:

Look, regardless of changes in funding, the priorities under coach Huffins, or any of the other bullshit smoke screens you've thrown up, the fact remains that many other teams in the state have done more with less in XC, and will continue to do so.

Are you always so dense?

You still don't get it, do you?

Huffins was "encouraged" to resign.

At the end of the day, it was he who was responsible for where to spend money, on what event, and on who. After 5 years, the Cal AD obviously had some issues on how he managed the team and what his priorites were. As a result, he's gone.

You obviously have a great deal of difficulty reading between the lines.

Alysia Johnson has come down nearly 10 seconds since winning the California State High School Meet in 2004 as she won the second fastest NCAA 800m race in history today. As it was, the top 7 places finished ahead of last year's winning time. Johnson came thru the first lap in 57.34!!!

Props to her and Coach Tony Sandoval and the rest of the Cal Women's Team that came in 8th in the Country!

Finals

1 Alysia Johnson JR California 1:59.29 10

2 Katie Erdman SR Michigan 1:59.35 8

3 Heather Dorniden SO Minnesota 2:01.05 6

4 Fatimoh Muhammed SR Texas-El Paso 2:01.89 5

5 Geena Gall SO Michigan 2:02.24 4

6 Morgan Uceny SR Cornell 2:02.33 3

7 Temeka Kincy JR Texas 2:02.57 2

8 Rebekah Noble SO Oregon 2:04.79 1

Not bad for a true "walk-on" that never threw anything more than 133 feet in high school. That Coach Joyce must know what she's doing, eh?

Kelechi comes from the same high school as Olympian Andre Phillips, Silver Creek of San Jose.

Finals

1 Kelechi Anyanwu SR California 57.58m 188-11 10

57.58m 55.52m 52.37m 52.00m 51.07m 56.32m

2 Tai Battle JR Arizona State 54.79m 179-09 8

54.79m 48.99m 50.46m 49.75m FOUL 51.52m

3 Shanna Dickenson JR Tennessee 54.50m 178-10 6

54.11m FOUL FOUL 50.60m 54.50m 53.46m

4 Abby Emsick SR Kansas 54.41m 178-06 5

54.41m FOUL FOUL FOUL 50.39m 53.19m

5 D'Andra Carter SO Texas Tech 53.16m 174-05 4

FOUL 52.95m 51.64m 48.81m 53.16m 49.09m

6 Michelle Carter SR Texas 53.05m 174-00 3

51.43m FOUL FOUL 50.95m 52.71m 53.05m

7 Dace Ruskule SR Nebraska 51.75m 169-09 2

51.44m FOUL 49.31m 51.75m FOUL FOUL

8 McKenzie Garberg JR Washington State 51.20m 168-00 1

FOUL 49.82m 51.20m 51.20m 50.07m FOUL

9 Novelle Murray SR Hawaii-Manoa 50.22m 164-09

50.22m FOUL FOUL 45.35m FOUL FOUL

10 Astin Steward JR Purdue 50.20m 164-08

44.83m FOUL 50.20m

11 Jennifer Onyeagbako JR Long Beach State 49.89m 163-08

43.50m 49.89m 44.74m

12 Samantha Musil FR Georgia Tech 49.86m 163-07

48.70m 47.26m 49.86m

Cal Alum wrote:

midwaste wrote:

Look, regardless of changes in funding, the priorities under coach Huffins, or any of the other bullshit smoke screens you've thrown up, the fact remains that many other teams in the state have done more with less in XC, and will continue to do so.

Are you always so dense?

You still don't get it, do you?

Huffins was "encouraged" to resign.

At the end of the day, it was he who was responsible for where to spend money, on what event, and on who. After 5 years, the Cal AD obviously had some issues on how he managed the team and what his priorites were. As a result, he's gone.

You obviously have a great deal of difficulty reading between the lines.

Oh brother.

sj quik wrote:

i've been to two track meets this year. one high school (at cal) and another college/open. the only way i would ever travel that far to watch a track meet is if i had a son/daughter competing or it was the olympics. i am, however, a passionate running fan. i love watching track, xc, and especially marathons on tv/internet.

With all due respect, I think that it is one thing to be a passionate track fan, but entirely another to be an "educated" and knowledgeable track fan.

The Cal Women just placed 8th overall in the NATION!

And 3 of the teams in front of them are from the Pac-10 conference, ASU, UCLA, and USC. That says a lot!

Pac-10 Fan wrote:

sj quik wrote:

i've been to two track meets this year. one high school (at cal) and another college/open. the only way i would ever travel that far to watch a track meet is if i had a son/daughter competing or it was the olympics. i am, however, a passionate running fan. i love watching track, xc, and especially marathons on tv/internet.

With all due respect, I think that it is one thing to be a passionate track fan, but entirely another to be an "educated" and knowledgeable track fan.

The Cal Women just placed 8th overall in the NATION!

And 3 of the teams in front of them are from the Pac-10 conference, ASU, UCLA, and USC. That says a lot!

good for them! i'm not sure what that has to do with me going to watch meets, though. or my argument that coaching changes need to be made. but since you're such a track scholar, maybe you can make me a cheat sheet that i can use to impress my friends at parties.