Athletic department needs boxing program
April 28, 2015
The biggest boxing match, and arguably one of the most anticipated fights ever, is set to take place this weekend in Las Vegas.
Come Saturday, deals, bets and beer will be everywhere. But after the match became official, I began to wonder about boxing, Contra Costa College and the athletic department.
Throughout my academic career I have heard stories from various faculty advisers about how CCC had a boxing program in the 1970s.
So if boxing existed here on campus, then why not revive the program and give the community something new to cheer about in the athletic department?
Aside from potential risks to bodily health, money will always be a factor.
However, I believe that if an institution can get the right coach and mentor, then any athletic program can thrive under superior leadership and management.
Imagine an ambassador associated with boxing located on campus who could teach hungry, motivated student athletes the art of quick kidney punches and speedy rabbit punches inside of a ring.
Besides the football team, who in my opinion has the best football coach in the Pacific 7 Conference, Alonzo Carter, there is no motivation.
No other team on campus has a “killer instinct” from a competitive advantage in sports at CCC.
Overall, there is no strong leadership and accountability associated with the CCC athletic department.
Other than football, it appears the accountability on losing is irrelevant because, year-after-year, the same coaches roll out the exact ineffective game plans from the prior season when the next begins.
And when the season finishes, no one is held responsible for another “bad season” surrounding their philosophy of winning.
Am I really taking shots at our athletic personnel? Yes, sir, I am.
The culture has to change into a winning environment and give parents, siblings and alumni something great to cheer about.
Take action and give the masses of people who enjoy sports an opportunity to come out and rally at these sporting events.
Give the fans a unique experience with the teams you have put together, and allow them to be part of something bigger.
When my community college adventures began as a student staff writer back in 2013, it was the volleyball, softball and baseball teams who failed every semester in posting a winning record.
I have been told off the record by some coaches that, “some players think they’re bigger than the game.”
Of course that was after a loss. But I have learned that is when the character of a person in sports really comes out.
I feel sorry for the sports writers who will follow me in journalism and have nothing to write about if there is no plan B for the athletic department.
That should be the spark for boxing, or any other sports program, to be reborn here on campus — the catalyst for heads to roll off in the front office and be held accountable for consecutive losing seasons.
So bring boxing back on campus and CCC might be lucky enough to find the next Andre Ward.
And for the record, my money is on Manny Pacquiao, because he represents everything the CCC campus is, but the athletic department is not.
A small, quiet and lucrative singularity without the flashy, arrogant and deceitful look of a wrapped bow tie.