Cal Supporters Rally to Save Disbanded Sports Programs

Cal baseball season opens Feb. 18.

The Bears are ranked No. 17 in the nation in the preseason poll, steeling themselves for play in the tough Pac-10 and waiting to hear if there will be another season after this one.

Last September 28, athletic director Sandy Barbour announced that baseball, women's lacrosse and men's and women's gymnastics would be disbanded and the legendary men's rugby program would be demoted to club status. The dismal state of the California state budget has brought steep cuts to the state university system. The cuts would trim $4 million annually from the athletic department budget.

Doug Nickle, a former Cal baseball player who spent two years in the Major Leagues, has spearheaded the fundraising efforts to reinstate all five programs. On Thursday, he posted a note on the website SaveCalSports.com indicating that the group was within "striking distance" of being able to raise enough funds to reinstate the sports.

And those efforts have the University of California doing some serious reconsidering.

As of Friday morning, Nickle had no definitive news from the university or athletic director Sandy Barbour. But fundraising efforts continue.

"I don't really expect anything until next week," Nickle said. "I talked with Sandy (Thursday) and she mentioned that progress is being made. She was quick to point out that it was guarded progress. We have not funded to the level that is guaranteed."

Barbour sent an email to Cal sports supporters earlier this week and said the university has "reached the point when we need to provide clarity for the future of the teams directly impacted by our program cuts."

She said the university is now in the process of taking a "careful look" at the fundraising efforts and applauded the "deep devotion" of those who have contributed.

"Our criteria, though, have remained the same since our announcement last September: to have a viable plan that attends to the long-term economic issues of Cal Athletics -- not just for a few years, but in perpetuity -- and will build an endowment capable of addressing the department's financial needs without creating an undue burden on its operating budget or undermining our goal to support excellence on the field and in the classroom," Barbour said in the email.

Barbour said the university hopes to make a decision on the future of the programs in the next 10 days. One report said UC Chancellor Robert Birgeneau may be prepared to make an announcement as soon as Friday.

Barbour did not return calls seeking comment on Thursday.

As of Thursday afternoon, Nickle said $12 million in "verified funds" have been collected. The SaveCalSports.com website indicates that $16 million has been pledged.

Nickle confirmed that the number he has been given is $25 million to guarantee reinstatement. He believes his group is showing the university that it will be able to raise the necessary funds, even if they are not quite all the way there.

Former Cal baseball coach Bob Milano told the Oakland Tribune that "We have more money than they ever thought was possible."

It is an impressive head start. The $25 million figure could endow the five programs for five to 10 years, a range that depends on the future state of the California economy and the Pac-12's upcoming media deal.

Nickle said the effort has brought in somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 individual donors with a wide-range of donations.

"It's been an awesome range, everybody from high school students giving $10 to people giving in excess of $250,000. I think Cal should be proud that it has a group of people who are so passionate about the university. It's been a really inspired effort."
-- Doug Nickle on Cal fundraising Those who have been unable to donate monetarily have contributed with legal research and volunteer time. The San Francisco Giants are also involved in the fundraising efforts now.

"It's been an awesome range, everybody from high school students giving $10 to people giving in excess of $250,000," Nickle said. "I think Cal should be proud that it has a group of people who are so passionate about the university. It's been a really inspired effort."

Nickle said he has received donations from former athletes -- including members of the baseball team who have gone on to big-league careers, former university chairs, graduates working in both the private and public sector and members of the Cal academic senate, who according to Nickle, "have been vilified in this process."

"All they asked for was fiscal restraint and you can't blame them for that," Nickle said. "From the beginning, we understood that the university and athletics do not operate in a bubble. I'm excited about the farther-reaching aspects of this. I hope we are going to be a model for the state of California. This is how you get your stuff together and run more efficiently."

Cal baseball coach David Esquer said Thursday that his players have the easiest time keeping their focus when they are on the field.

"The cloud that hangs over our program is the situation we are dealing with. You can't ignore it completely because it has to do with the futures of our kids and our coaches," Esquer said. "It does have its imapct. But the kids have done a phenomenal job of keeping their heads down and focusing on the task at hand."

Esquer said the people who are working and fundraising on behalf of his program are going to be viewed as "heroes" when all is said and done.

"We're hoping this isn't the final year of Cal baseball. I know the players are hoping this isn't a year where they are seeking to go other places," Esquer said. "I feel very positive because I have faith in the people who are behind the effort. If you knew the people we were counting on to move this thing forward, you would be as optimistic as I am."

Nickle said reinstatement of the programs is the first step to a lifetime endowment.

"I am optimistic," Nickle said. "I believe the university is acting in both a prudent way and a guarded way, but my indication is that things are moving in the right direction."