Cegles to Raise 49ers
by Doug Krikorian, Long Beach Press-Telegram
June 11, 2006 Upon meeting Vic Cegles for the first time, the restaurateur, Phil Trani, told the new Long Beach State athletic director:
"You look just like Barry Switzer."
Vic Cegles nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, I know, I get that all the time," he responded, and there indeed is a similar facial resemblance between Cegles and the former University of Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys head coach.
Now if Cegles has anywhere near the same success at his new position that Switzer, who won national titles with the Sooners and a Super Bowl with the Cowboys, did, a glorious athletic era soon will commence at Long Beach State.
Of course, only that most harrowing, unseen cruelty time will reveal if Cegles will have a serious impact on a 49er athletic program whose teams were successful enough the past year for the school to accumulate enough points to win the Big West Commissioner's Cup.
In all due respect to this stirring award, not exactly on par, say, with winning the Stanley Cup, World Cup, Davis Cup or even Grey Cup some are saying it's roughly tantamount to winning a free cup of coffee from Starbucks I'm sure Mike Weathers would gladly drop-kick the BWCC into the Pacific Ocean in exchange for a few victories over Cal State Fullerton, and I know Larry Reynolds would do the same in exchange for his basketball team finally qualifying for an NCAA berth.
A native of Niagara Falls, N.Y, where he spent many a winter shoveling snow from the driveway of his parents' home, Vic Cegles these days is residing in a dormitory room on the Long Beach State campus, as he searches for a home to purchase in the area.
"My wife and I were recently walking around Belmont Shore and came across a house we liked about two blocks from the beach," related Cegles. "The price was $999,999. Wow! The prices here are a little different in Southern California."
As you might know, Mr. Cegles arrived here from Temple University in Philadelphia with an impressive resume in athletic administration, with his specialty being fund-raising.
And, after spending a couple of hours with Cegles the other evening over dinner, I readily can understand the reason for his being proficient in this field.
He's an open fellow with a charming personality, an entertaining raconteur who makes you feel instantly comfortable in his presence.
"Why do you like fund-raising so much?" I asked Cegles, who apparently did it with impressive success during his 18 years at Arizona State and four at Temple.
"You can keep score," he replied. "It's all there in black and white. The figures don't lie."
"What is your immediate priority in your new job?" I wondered.
"I want to meet as many people as I can in the community," he said. "I want to determine our market place."
What Vic Cegles will determine in upcoming weeks is that Long Beach State has done well in almost all its athletic programs except the highest profile one that is supposed to generate the most income men's basketball.
While Larry Reynolds' team made it to the Big West title game and wound up 18-12 last season the first winning one Reynolds has had during his four-year incumbency it still didn't exactly pack the Walter Pyramid, playing too many of its games in front of puny crowds.
An apathy has enveloped the program that started during Wayne Morgan's reign and has continued with Reynolds.
But Vic Cegles has an open mind on the situation and pleaded with me to make more appearances this winter at Reynolds' games.
"You gotta come out and see us play more often," he beseeched.
Vic Cegles already is making a difference.
I reluctantly promised I would.
I was stunned when Cegles informed me he was born 58 years ago.
The guy doesn't look a day past 48, and still plays basketball on a regular basis.
He performed four seasons at Bucknell, and the 5-foot-11 point guard was a co-captain his senior year.
"I still have game," he says with a laugh.
But is it good enough for him to hold his own in a one-on-one match with another basketball player who also happened to be the person who hired him, Dr. F. King Alexander, the president of Long Beach State?
"We're going to find out," he says. "I've already talked to King, and we're going to have a game against each other."
Since Alexander is 16 years younger, you'd have to give the ol' prez the edge, but Cegles no doubt is a competitor.
He never gave up his dream to become an AD and kept trying even though there were some disappointments along the way.
He doesn't plan to make dramatic changes immediately, but one gets the impression that he can be strong-willed and that he has definite ideas on how an athletic department should operate.
"Obviously, there's going to be a period of evaluation," he says.
It's also obvious that Vic Cegles will make a positive impression on those folk around town he's meeting for the first time.
"I enjoy people," he says. "This job is all about the relationships you have with them. I'm looking forward to the challenges."
One for sure will be to get an indifferent Long Beach community interested in Larry Reynolds' team, but another more titillating one might be his half-court debate with F. King Alexander. |
