First NCAA visit wasn't a slam dunk


Staff Writer

It should have been a major source of pride, a puff-out-your-chest-and-boast deal.

Instead, the 1975 NCAA Final Four in the San Diego Sports Arena was a black eye for the city.

What the public saw was a tremendous tournament featuring UCLA, Kentucky, Syracuse and Louisville, with the Bruins beating Louisville for the title in coach John Wooden's last game.

What went on behind the scenes was a horror story that even Edgar Allan Poe couldn't have dreamed up.

As San Diego State's sports information director, and a member of the NCAA Tournament Committee, I was right in the middle of everything.

The NCAA had no problem with the city, San Diego State as the host school, accommodations, meals or transportation.

The crux of the problem was the Sports Arena's management -- or lack thereof.

Since San Diego was a bus ride for UCLA, Wooden brought his Bruins to town a day early, with a practice in the arena early Tuesday afternoon.

Knowing the Sport Arena's management, I decided to take a trip there just to make sure everything was in order for UCLA.

What I found was a locker room that looked like Berlin after the blitz.

There had been a hockey game in the Sports Arena the night before and the UCLA locker room wasn't cleaned. There was tape, orange peels, bottles, cans, towels and underwear everywhere.

A plea to the Sports Arena maintenance crew fell on deaf ears. Locker room cleanup wasn't on the schedule, so the Bruins were relegated to dress in squalor.

Because I had some pride in my school and city, I grabbed trainer Bob Moore, who was setting up the tournament training room, and made a call back to school, recruiting Gene Lamke, a teacher and the assistant baseball coach when I played for the Aztecs, and Fred Hammond, the school's facility coordinator.

The four of us worked two hours, filled five cans of trash, trucked over portable lockers, towels and drinks from SDSU and got the room in shape just before the Bruins walked down the tunnel.

I'll never forget Wooden's words as he walked into that locker room.

"Hey, this isn't bad," the veteran coach said. "I heard this place was a toilet."

Those words made the effort worthwhile.

That, however, was just the start of an eventful week.

The NCAA is specific when negotiating a contract, and was determined to hold the Sports Arena and its maintenance crew to it.

Press tables to accommodate the nearly 500 media members were to be built to certain dimensions.

A makeshift pressroom in the bowels of the Sports Arena with everything the writers needed -- phones, electricity and food -- was more than functional. That's because the SDSU staff built it.

The NCAA, however, insisted that all other aspects of the setup be according to the contract. So when a Tuesday inspection revealed work was lagging, NCAA executive Tom Jernstadt became concerned.

On Wednesday, he came unglued.

This was the first year practices were open to the public. The contract stated there would be no admission charge. The Sports Arena could turn a profit by selling concessions and programs.


