Normally by this time of the year I’d be looking forward to the Triton Invitational Water Polo tournament at UC San Diego.  Four years ago 14 teams participated.  Three years ago the tournament was down to a field of eight teams.  At one point there were five UC teams participating from what were then nine campuses.  Even with Cal  (Berkeley) itself never making the journey, it was always great as an alum and most-of-my-life Californian to be able to see water polo teams from five of the nine campuses competing against each other in some quality match-ups.

Just finally saw this year’s schedule this morning:this year’s tournament is down to five teams, with the host being the only UC present.  No brackets, just each team playing every other team once.  I’m sure there will be some quality games, but the trends are difficult to ignore.  Hard to not see it as just another step on the UC’s ongoing Drive to Mediocrity.

Two good, one bad for the Bears:

• Cal water polo took three out of four games at the tournament I should have gone to see in Irvine, coming in second to U$¢.
• Cal professor Oliver Williamson was one of two Americans to take the annual Nobel prize for economics this weekend.
• UC management is now reportedly looking at major-by-major surcharges for different undergraduate programs.

As part of the UC’s Great Slide to Mediocrity, UC Irvine has axed five sports programs: men’s and women’s rowing, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and sailing.

I haven’t seen their swimming and diving team in years (this didn’t include their water polo program), but their rowing crews were regulars in San Diego, particularly at the Crew Classic.  They will be missed.

I’m a huge fan of the University of California, and particularly proud of my alma mater, the Berkeley campus. Poor management and budget cuts are certainly taking their toll on the system, but I still believe it is one of the world’s best university systems, and includes what is probably the best public university in the world.  Budget cuts are painful for everyone, and there’s been plenty of pain spread around for nearly all the students and staff. I’d certainly argue the Regents themselves haven’t borne much of the pain, but that’s for another day.

I was very disappointed today to see an article in the Union-Trib on a proposed response by some of the UC San Diego faculty.  Basically the proposal boils down to ‘not us, them.’  Them being campuses that are not like theirs.  Some campuses are more equal than others, in the proposal’s author’s minds.  I suppose that in a better job market they’d be the rats on the sinking ship.  Stuck on the ship though, they’re looking for higher ground.  Research is clearly their priority, so they’re scurrying to the top of their ivory towers and looking down on what they call the “teaching institutions.” 

Let’s get something straight: teaching the next generation of California’s leaders in the most important thing the UC does.  If it’s supported by excellent in-house research and taught by excellent researchers with practical experience, so much the better, but any member of the faculty that thinks they’re above teaching needs to move on.

A couple of months ago I was at a retirement party for a local teacher who made an excellent point when it came time to respond to the accolades.  The teaching goal of a public academic institution is not the traditional three Rs, but the three As of academics, athletics and the arts.  The three Rs together are merely one-third of a complete program.  They should be producing well-rounded citizens fit to excel in all aspects of their lives.  Maybe Dean (the retiring teacher mentioned above and a Cal alum) could go over to UCSD now that he has some time free and show them how a complete program works.

Every year around this time the rumors that Comic-Con will leave San Diego for greener pastures start rumbling around town again.  Comic-Con is huge, maybe too huge for the convention center.  Comic-Con needs more parking and hotel rooms than the eighth largest city in America can offer.  Blah, blah, blah, they always come back next year though.  Inertia’s a wonderful thing.

Unfortunately that’s not the way with every big gathering though.  Las Vegas appears to have stolen the USA Rugby 7s tournament. This tournament was a part of a larger Rugby gathering that drew Cal Rugby to San Diego the last two years, giving me two enjoyable February afternoons watching the Bears beat up on OMBAC and Wyoming.

Cal sports teams come to San Diego rarely enough as it is.  I hope they’ll still find a reason to visit this far south, but I’m afraid this will just be another opportunity for the UC penny-pinchers to cut some more on the great drive to mediocrity by at least eliminating a road trip for the national powerhouse program.

I’ve posted here before (here, here and here) about the unfortunate decision by UC Santa Cruz to end their water polo program.  More and more I’m convinced the UC is just nickle and diming itself to mediocrity.  Interesting then to see an interview this morning with Alan Cima, a coach who’s been involved with the men’s and women’s program there for the last nine years.  Good perspective on the UCSC rationale (or lack thereof) for the cuts, and I was grateful to learn that Cal and UCLA were “worried” about the situation.  This kind of precedent at one campus cannot be good for any of the UC programs.

I’ve lamented here in the past about the UC’s drive toward mediocrity, particularly as shown by the axing of the Santa Cruz water polo program. Though I still think the UC can and should do better in protecting the system’s reputation and standing in all programs, I read an interesting article yesterday that included some discussion of Yale’s water polo program, and other sports, after they lost official recognition and became club programs. Glad to see that relegation to club status isn’t always the death knell of an athletic program, but can lead to positive outcomes.

Two related notes for the aquatics inclined: Penn State swimmers raised $235 in a charity auction by agreeing to deliver pizza in their speedos, and this year’s Maverick’s Big Wave contest may be canceled due to a lack of sponsors. Hmmm. Pondering. Hmmm.

The Santa Cruz Sentinal is reporting that UCSC has decided to demote its mens and womens water polo teams to club status, rather than cut them outright as originally proposed.  I guess that counts as a save, and leaves the door open for returning the team to NCAA Division III play in better economic times, but still think that beyond losing two great teams and some unique opportunities for the students of the Santa Cruz campus, this is a symptom of the bigger problems within the UC: a lack of will to continue being a great university.   ‘Good enough’ is not what California deserves.

While my alma mater is Cal, that doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings for the lesser other nine campuses of the UC system.  One big happy UC, so the party line goes.  Bear, Bruin, Bobcat, Banana Slug, whatever.  This also explains one of the reasons I love UC San Diego’s Triton Invitational water polo tournament in the fall; there are generally four or five UC teams in the mix and there’s always someone worth cheering for.

So, imagine my dismay to see that the next step in the UC’s nickel and diming toward mediocrity is a proposal to axe men’s and women’s Banana Slug water polo. Will these be the last photos you see of Santa Cruz water polo?  I know education is in in a huge financial crisis in this state – I hear about the problems on local education daily.  Hourly on some days.  But it’s tough sitting back and watching programs get slashed.  College is about more than sleeping though lectures, and if California wants to teleteach commuter students we already have a great community college system.  The UC is special because it is everything: Rose Bowl Champions to Nobel Laureates and everything in between.  Even hard core water polo playing Banana Slugs.

OK, I would have been happiest if the Grateful Dead archives were going to Cal, and most despondent if they’d gone to Stanford.  At least with this option they stay within the system.  Go Slugs!