Not so ‘Poly Proud’ over current state of Cal Poly SLO’s athletics | Opinion
Not ‘Poly Proud’ over current state of athletics
“Cal Poly looking for first Big West win after 89-82 loss to Long Beach State,” (sanluisobispo.com, Jan. 11)
As a Cal Poly alumni and locally born resident, I have witnessed the highs and lows of Cal Poly athletics. Gone are the glory days that filled Spanos Stadium and the Mott Athletics Center with students and community members cheering on successful teams. Those were truly times to be “Poly Proud.”
Now, Spanos is empty and Mott is a shell of itself for men’s basketball. Today, the men’s basketball team has only nine conference wins in five years, and they are 0-8 year to date. Where’s the “Poly Pride” or “Learn By Doing” in these losses? If smaller colleges like Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s can succeed, why can’t Cal Poly?
In the corporate world, there would have been changes a long time ago. Is it leadership or bad choices? Is the performance of current coaching accepted by President Jeffrey Armstong and Athletics Director Don Oberhelman? We competed with Fresno State and Boise State on a regular basis, but they have since moved up in states and success.
Think of the additional positive reasons to attract people to California’s Central Coast and Cal Poly. Students and residents deserve better. Change is needed in either the coaching or administration — or both!
John Furtado
Benicia
Templeton’s burden
“Templeton to get gas station, 24-hour convenience store. Is it a benefit or ‘monstrosity’?” (sanluisobispo.com, Jan. 27)
Sorry, Templeton, but you brought this upon yourself. Long ago, the town decided to expand its border to accommodate the heavy influx of people fleeing big cities.
Anyone else remember the old joke about Paso Robles and Templeton growing so big that they connect to form “Templerobles?” It’s not funny anymore.
DB Messkit
San Luis Obispo
Opinion
The forgotten godfather of Paso wine
“‘I will die owning Eberle.’ How the godfather of Paso Robles wine made his mark on SLO County,” (sanluisobispo.com, Jan. 28)
Without detracting from the great work Gary Eberle has done for Paso Robles wine, the forgotten godfather of Paso wine was Dr. Stan Hoffman — and I am sure Eberle would agree.
Hoffman was a successful and prominent Beverly Hills cardiologist who allowed his love of wine to bring him to Paso. His pinot, under the label Hoffman Mountain Ranch Winery, won huge accolades and put Paso on the wine map. His efforts have been all but forgotten, but they changed Paso wine from wine by the jug to prize-winning wine.
Hoffman also learned the hard way how to make a small fortune producing wine: start with a large fortune.
Jim Merzon
Paso Robles
A nation led by zombies
“Biden is trying to balance Gaza protests and free speech rights as demonstrators disrupt his events,” (sanluisobispo.com, Jan. 28)
While we haven’t been paying attention, America has become a nation led by zombies. We can’t be sure that our current president can tie his own shoelaces (Joe Biden, to the glee of all MAGA Maniacs, accidentally referred to Donald Trump as “our sitting president”).
We have seen, more than once, that one of the chief executives of the Republican Party, Mitch McConnell, can’t put three consecutive sentences together in public before having to be led off by his aides. Meanwhile, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is blaming Valdimir Putin for the upsurge in anti-Israel protests.
Leading the parade is, of course, our former and still blood-thirsty ex-president who claims to have an “exceptional” IQ (too bad a person’s IQ can’t be measured in negative numbers). In the meantime, our corporate leaders are busy poisoning the atmosphere and the oceans with plastic. We are now ingesting so much of it that if the TSA ever starts monitoring us for plastic we’ll never fly again.
Gene Strohl
San Luis Obispo
Moreno is a housing champion
“Who’s running for office in SLO County? Congress, county supervisor and more,” (sanluisobispo.com, Jan. 11)
Since 2015, our state legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom have enacted scores of bills to boost housing construction while removing local control from local governments. Yet, after eight years of such legislation, housing production has lagged while the costs of housing has exploded. Our county and cities need to collaborate to increase housing production in ways that protect and complement the livability of our local communities.
As Atascadero’s mayor since 2018, Heather Moreno has been a forceful advocate for economic and housing development consistent with community character while addressing affordability by design. She will make sure that the county planning department reduces red tape and permits processing times without increasing costs.
Moreno believes that we need to do everything possible to ensure that people have access to secure, affordable housing. Let’s make sure Moreno will be our next District 5 County Supervisor.
Grigger Jones
Atascadero
Tackling the gun problem
“NRA chief, one of the most powerful figures in US gun policy, says he’s resigning days before trial,” (sanluisobispo.com, Jan. 4)
Earlier this week, I watched with interest as senators grilled social media CEOs, telling them that they owe the public an apology. Sen. Lindsay Graham said they had “blood on their hands” because their platforms had contributed to the deaths of many young people.
While I agree that social media needs better regulation, I found it ironic that senators can condemn others for inaction in the face of rising fatality rates amongst young people when, according to the Pew Research, gun deaths of people under the age of 18 rose 50% from 2019 to 2021, when 2,590 kids died by gunfire.
Senators must attack the gun problem with the same zeal they show for social media companies. So far, they have shown no appetite for enacting gun laws that make it less convenient to use a gun for murder or suicide. They have sat on their (bloody) hands when they could pass laws to reduce gun fatalities.
Mark Lopez
Arroyo Grande
