It’s not often that USC and UCLA work together, but it
appears the two rivals have found a suitable cause.
The Bruins and Trojans are teaming up with Long Beach State to
sponsor a joint bid to bring the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field
Championships to the newly-built Home Depot Center in Carson from
2005-07.
The Anschutz Entertainment Group, the firm in charge of the bid,
is still awaiting word on the status of the proposal after filing
it with the NCAA Track and Field Committee in March prior to the
Indoor Nationals.
“It’s an unprecedented kind of approach to get the
entire Southern California collegiate community involved in doing
this particular event,” said AEG’s Rich Perelman, who
is functioning as the head of the bid. “When you consider
that the two best schools in the history of track and field are USC
and UCLA, it’s pretty amazing that we haven’t had an
NCAA Championship (held) here since 1955.”
The NCAA Track and Field Committee will review Perelman’s
bid as well as plans submitted by Oregon, Texas, Louisiana State,
Ohio State and Sacramento, and it hopes to have a decision by the
time it meets again in San Diego in late June.
The bid will be largely funded by the NCAA and revenue from the
event. LBSU, UCLA and USC would only be responsible for a fraction
of the cost.
“Southern California has a sports-minded reputation, and
we would hope they embrace the event,” said Boston College
Associate Athletic Director John Kane, also chairman of the
committee. “We’re certainly going to entertain Los
Angeles as an option.”
Kane said the committee had not reviewed any of the proposals
yet, and that he was unfamiliar with the Home Depot Center as a
venue. NCAA liason Mark Bochelman will review all of the possible
host sites and then make a recommendation before the meeting in
June.
A 125-acre complex on the Campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills,
the Home Depot Center will open its doors officially when it hosts
a Golden Spike Tour event June 1. The meet will likely be an
audition in the eyes of the committee.
“We’ll certainly be looking at it very
closely,” Kane said. “If things run smoothly, that
would certainly enhance the possibility that the bid would be
accepted.”
The Outdoor Championships have rotated from site to site in the
past; recently, however, many coaches have expressed the desire to
establish a fixed venue for the event. Oregon has already made a
bid to host the National Championships permanently, and Perelman
said the Home Depot Center could be a potential venue after 2007 as
well.
“In order to promote and market the event properly, it
can’t move around from one site to another,” said Air
Force’s Rich Lindeman, the head of the Track and Field
Coaches Association. “I think that Los Angeles is one of the
major candidates.”
But not every member of the track and field community is as
enthusiastic about Los Angeles as a potential site.
Although USC would be one of the host schools, head coach Ron
Allice is not sure that Southern California would embrace track and
field as readily as a smaller community might.
“I don’t know if Los Angeles is the answer,”
Allice said. “Southern California is so diverse and there is
so much competition for the entertainment dollar. I’m just
not sure the interest is there.”
While Allice is skeptical, UCLA women’s coach Jeannette
Bolden is excited about the possibility.
“Over the last couple of years, all of the local coaches
have talked about the idea of having an NCAA Championship here in
Southern California,” she said. “Bringing it to Los
Angeles would definitely help our program a lot.”