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<\/a>\u2026 having proudly entered those hallowed halls of the academy through the front door at age 29 in the Summer Quarter of 1972, I exited through a basement window at the end of Spring Quarter, 1984\u2026 defeated, humiliated and angry.\u00a0 I was 41 years old and that departure shaped the rest of my life.\u00a0 I served as a professor, coach and administrator in the Department of Physical Education and Athletics at California State University, Los Angeles for 12 years and in the end, it nearly killed me.<\/p>\nThe Back Story<\/h2>\n
\u2026knowing what one does not want out of life may be as important as what one seeks. \u00a0Sly Stallone in his first Rocky movie said, \u201cI just don\u2019t wanna be another bum from da neighborhood\u201d when asked what he sought.\u00a0 Not such a lofty goal, but a real one indeed for Rocky Balboa. \u00a0On the other hand, Ray Liotta\u2019s character, Henry Hill in the movie \u201cGoodfellas\u201d, said, \u201cfrom the time I was nine years old, I knew I wanted to be like them,\u201d referring to the \u2018wise guys\u2019 hanging out at the cab stand across the street from his parents\u2019 third floor walk up in NYC. \u00a0It was easy for me to relate to both movie characters.\u00a0 With roots in South Philly and coming from a loosely \u2018connected\u2019 family, I knew those guys albeit from a distance. While they were very colorful and fun to be around, I did not aspire to become part of that fraternity. \u00a0\u00a0What I wanted was a different story:<\/p>\n
Teachers have a calling not unlike those who choose the clergy or medicine, or the Peace Corps\u2026or even Wall St.\u00a0 I wanted to teach physical education and knew it from the time I was a high school junior.\u00a0 As a kid, I was a no talent athlete but really enjoyed all sports and always wondered what made some kids better than others.\u00a0 I played baseball, softball, basketball, touch football and was a hurdler on my high school track team and not very accomplished at any of it. \u00a0However, I knew that being good at sports would curry favor not only with the guys in the neighborhood but also with the girls. \u00a0This was a ticket to popularity and respect amongst one\u2019s peers, hence my incentive to become a good athlete like my big brother Jimmy.\u00a0 While this adolescent attitude might yield short term pay days, it was really the science of sport which always piqued my interest.\u00a0 Why can some guys run faster than others or jump higher or throw harder?\u00a0 Is it their natural talent or their training?\u00a0 Nature or Nurture?\u00a0 If it is natural, does that mean talented athletes come to life with a greater number of fast twitch muscle fibers or better constructed nerve synapses or larger and more erythrocytes?\u00a0 If it is training, can you create those advantages through good coaching, dedication and hard work even if raw talent is not organically present?\u00a0 I would spend the next 25 years of my professional life in the pursuit of answering those questions.<\/p>\n
Temple University<\/h2>\n
1964 Temple Championship Team<\/p><\/div>\n Freshmen were not eligible compete in any NCAA sport at the varsity level until 1972.\u00a0 Prior to that time, the newbies competed on freshman teams so that they may evolve into \u2018student athletes.\u2019 \u00a0That term, \u2018student athlete,\u2019 meant something special at that time unlike its unworthy connotation of today which is very apparent in football and men\u2019s basketball.\u00a0 Another story for another time! \u00a0\u00a0Coach Patterson recruited me from his gymnastics class for majors \u2026a first!\u00a0 I put together a fairly simple routine on rings but executed it well, and was getting ready for my first competition in the second semester of my freshman year.\u00a0 The meet I would compete in would be the first college meet I had ever seen.\u00a0 It was against the Navy plebes at Annapolis.\u00a0 The bus ride from Philly to Maryland with the team was great.\u00a0 The varsity guys would compete Saturday evening while the freshmen competed on Saturday afternoon.\u00a0 I performed a routine with no breaks and no mistakes.\u00a0 I was as clean as a whistle\u2026and scored a 5.7 out of a possible 10.0 (Olympic scoring).\u00a0 Good execution, but no difficulty!\u00a0 All the varsity guys were there to lend support to the frosh and, I needed it after posting that score.\u00a0 I was welcomed back to bench with rousing applause, warm handshakes, smiles and slaps on the tukus.\u00a0 Somehow, my teammates made that 5.7 ok and their acceptance and encouragement was my motivation to get serious about gymnastics.<\/p>\n Temple University 63-64 Gymnastics Team Championship at Penn State<\/p><\/div>\n I trained consistently and diligently from that point on and became a student of my sport.\u00a0\u00a0 As a result, the best one could say about my gymnastics ability was that I \u201cscratched and clawed my way right up to the very low middle.\u201d\u00a0 I earned my varsity letter as a senior and wore it proudly\u2026until I was about\u2026 60.\u00a0 I have often said that Temple University\u2019s gymnastics program did way more for me than I could ever do for it.\u00a0 To this day, I am ever so grateful for the opportunity, education and counseling Coach Patterson delivered.\u00a0 My experience then and there provided me with the background and opportunity to earn a living doing what I loved\u2026teaching and coaching.<\/p>\n Coaches Barnes & Bastion – SHHS 1967 My Colleagues<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n My first permanent professional job was teaching physical education and coaching gymnastics at South Hills High School in West Covina, CA.\u00a0 I was 24 years old and held both a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degree. I had some success with my first team by going 10-1 and won a conference championship with a fledging program and team.\u00a0 While I did not know if I could be a successful coach at the start of that season, I knew it at the end.\u00a0 During six seasons, we won six conference titles, had a dual meet record of 74-3, a CIF Championship and a Southern California Championship by defeating LA City Champions in 1972.\u00a0 We sent countless \u2018student athletes\u2019 to elite NCAA gymnastics programs around the country and several went on to become NCAA All-Americans but more important they became doctors, lawyers, educators, scientists, politicians, business leaders\/owners, craftsmen and journeymen.\u00a0 My gym was a metaphor for the real world.\u00a0 Winning and losing gym meets seemed like life itself, but the intrinsic value of competing was found in the commitment, preparation, execution and ultimately the accountability.<\/p>\n Alfie, Nadia Comaneci, Bart Conner 2002<\/p><\/div>\n At the conclusion of that 1972 high school season, I was offered a job at Cal State, LA as a kinesiology professor and gymnastics coach.\u00a0 Life was great.\u00a0 I had just concluded my doctoral program at UCLA; was recently married to the love of my life, Nancy; I became an instant father to Danielle who was now age seven and my high school team had just won two big championships.\u00a0 My close friend Gordon Maddux was the Cal State LA coach and he was leaving to work for ABC\u2019s Wide World of Sports as the color commentator alongside of Jim McKay. They made history together.<\/p>\n Gordon-Maddux,-Glen-Sunby,-Al-Marino<\/p><\/div>\n Gordon became the voice of gymnastics and singularly brought our arcane sport into everyone\u2019s living room. While the \u201972 games in Munich were horrific due to the assassination of the Israeli athletes, a bright spot emerged when Gordon responded to McKay with an enthusiastic\u2026 \u201cI\u2019d give her an eleven\u201d when asked what Olga Korbut should score on a bars routine.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have a lot more to say about Gordon in future stories as he had a significant influence upon me and many others.\u00a0 He was a great mentor. \u00a0I respected him as a coach for a host of reasons not the least of which is he was the first who brought real science to our sport.\u00a0 Bio-mechanics was in its infancy as it related to gymnastics and Gordon was at the front of the pack. To this day, I am very proud to be his friend and we have remained close since those early days of the mid sixties when I was just beginning my coaching career.<\/p>\n Cal State LA Gymnastics Team ’73 – ’74<\/p><\/div>\n I rejected the initial Cal State offer which called for a one year contract at less money than I was earning at the high school.\u00a0 Somehow, that didn\u2019t seem right.\u00a0 I was happy to continue at South Hills with a team that had graduated only three starters and I was the ASB Director (a Vice Principal\u2019s job without the title).\u00a0 The department chair at Cal State came at me again and offered an associate professorship at the last salary step (just one click under full professor) without tenure but rather annual reappointment at the pleasure of the university president.\u00a0 That was fine with me although I was advised against it by everyone in the know. Opposition to that offer was based upon the lack of tenure with no possibility of gaining such under this newly installed, CSU system wide \u2018coaching tract\u2019 policy.\u00a0 Somehow, tenure was never a priority with me.\u00a0 I believed it protected the weak and incompetent\u2026and it does.\u00a0 Further, I wouldn\u2019t want to work with those who didn\u2019t want me.\u00a0 My attitude on the second contract offer was, \u201clet\u2019s rock \u2018n\u2019 roll\u201d and I signed on.<\/p>\n Asst Coach Al Hernandez, Alfie, Asst Coach Barney Peters 1974<\/p><\/div>\n My first two years were great!\u00a0 I taught upper division and graduate level anatomical and bio-mechanical kinesiology courses to majors.\u00a0 I coached my gymnastics team to two PCAA championships (NCAA Division I), had a 20-1 dual meet record with wins over USC, UCLA (both seasons) as well as other nationally ranked teams and was selected NCAA Western Region Coach of the Year by National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches in 1974.\u00a0 Life was really good!\u00a0<\/p>\n PCAA Conference Champions 1973 and 1974<\/p><\/div>\n Upon arriving home from the National Championships, my athletic director, John Hermann called me in for a chat. \u00a0John was and is a great guy with a storied athletics background where he was Pacific Coast batting champion and a starting defensive back for Red Sanders at UCLA during their hey day of the mid fifties. He also had a stint with the NY football Giants and the Baltimore Colts before returning to UCLA as an assistant coach. He was a gifted athlete who made it all look so easy\u2026pissed me off.\u00a0 John Hermann was congratulatory over our great season and it came from his heart because he loved winning regardless of sport, but there was something else.\u00a0 John told me of the recent PCAA athletic directors\u2019 meeting where it had been determined that all member universities would eventually drop gymnastics as a conference sport due to budget concerns and the PCAA will probably fold. Title IX (gender equity) was now a reality and would arguably become the most important event changing the face of college sports in this country.\u00a0<\/p>\n PCAA Conference Champions 1974 Cal State LA<\/p><\/div>\n In 1974, you either loved or hated the implementation of Title IX. \u00a0\u00a0John continued with the declaration that we might take the university\u2019s total athletics program and drop it down to NCAA Division II. \u00a0\u00a0Further, he said the NCAA will eventually drop gymnastics \u2018officially\u2019 but would retain it on a \u2018club\u2019 level. \u00a0Along with the physical education department chair, they collectively asked me to head up the university\u2019s intramural sports program and retain my teaching position. While I did have other Division I coaching opportunities, all required relocating to other parts of the country and Nancy and daughter Danielle hated that idea.\u00a0 Further, men\u2019s gymnastics was heading toward extinction. So I asked myself, \u201cif \u00a0I accept a coaching position at another university, wouldn\u2019t I eventually face the same fate?\u201d \u00a0And the more pressing question, \u201chow important is domestic tranquility?\u201d\u00a0 The most difficult thing for me to reconcile was the fact that I was evolving into an elite coach and my gymnastics career would be over if I accepted Cal State LA\u2019s alternative offer. After considerable thought and solicited advice, I was prepared for that next step in my professional growth and development.\u00a0 I always knew that at some point I would serve as an administrator, but this was a bit sooner than planned.\u00a0 I accepted the offer.\u00a0 There is some truth to that ol\u2019 Yiddish axiom\u2026\u201cGod laughs at those who plan!\u201d<\/p>\n Assoc. Chair of Physical Education and\u00a0Athletics Dept. 1977-1980<\/p><\/div>\n The next three years (1974-1977) were rewarding and very educational in that I was on the frontline of administering the Intramural Sports Program, assisted in the management of the Athletics Program, continued teaching both undergrad and grad courses, chaired master\u2019s thesis committees and I was elected to the University\u2019s Academic Senate (the first from the Department of Physical Education\/Athletics). Working for John was great.\u00a0 He was a good Athletic Director and a very savvy business man from whom I learned much\u2026like his quote, \u201cyou make your money when you buy, not when you sell.\u201d\u00a0 To this day, I am grateful for the mentoring that Coach Hermann provided and it has served me well. Life was good!<\/p>\n The succeeding three years at Cal State (1977-1980) brought about another change where our new department chair asked if I would serve as her associate.\u00a0 This was a big step up.\u00a0 The chair was accountable for seventy five or so full and part time faculty and staff including both men\u2019s and women\u2019s athletics in addition to managing all financial resources, facilities, athletics schedules, game management, faculty teaching schedules and curricular matters.\u00a0 I was second in command of a large and highly visible pan-university program and was I 35 years old.\u00a0 Now, things would get\u2026\u201dINTERESTING.\u201d<\/p>\n My boss, Dr. Joan Johnson was a wonderful and accomplished woman who led with honesty, integrity and a definitive vision.\u00a0 A Wimbledon competitor in her youth and Billie Jean King\u2019s tennis coach at Cal State LA, Dr. Johnson was a sound administrator who pioneered women\u2019s athletics causes when the fightin\u2019 was \u201cdown \u2018n\u2019 dirty.\u201d\u00a0 Resolve in her mission was never compromised by lack of civility.\u00a0 She fought hard, intelligently, fairly and with an air of dignity.\u00a0 While she did not always agree with all colleagues on all matters, she never made it personal\u2026at least not publicly.\u00a0 We worked well together for a variety of reasons, but most important, we liked and respected each other.\u00a0 During my first year as Associate Department Chair, we were advertising for a new tenure track faculty position at associate professor\u2019s rank, and the job description sent forward suited me well.\u00a0 Dr. Johnson wanted me to get that job because of TENURE.\u00a0 I agreed!\u00a0 The search ensued and the selection committee \u201cunofficially\u201d offered the job to me but it had to go through the proper channels.\u00a0 That entailed a paper trip through the dean\u2019s office, the academic VP\u2019s office and eventually the university\u2019s president.\u00a0 What followed was the seminal event that impacted my station amongst some colleagues but more important, it thrust doubt upon my very being and it influenced my remaining six years at the university.\u00a0 Here is what ensued:<\/p>\n During this process, an anonymous letter was sent to Dr. Johnson protesting my appointment to the position due to overweighting of male when compared with female new hires and that the job description had been purposefully written for me.\u00a0 The letter was not signed by any individuals but rather, \u201cThe Secret Seven.\u201d\u00a0 Dr. Johnson was furious, as was I, but to no avail and the search was suspended.\u00a0 The university president, Dr Greenlee, summoned me to his office after learning about this series of unfortunate events and he advised me to wait until a new search was created and to reapply at that time.\u00a0 His advice was sound and I was not smart enough to take it.\u00a0 President Greenlee understood the value of tenure in the academic world and he did not think it best for me to travel that path \u2018unprotected.\u2019\u00a0 However, having observed some quality senior faculty denied promotion to full professor numerous times, my thinking was that I would be no exception if appointed to that soon to be re-released job having just drawn department faculty blood.\u00a0 I submitted an alternative suggestion to both Dr. Johnson and President Greenlee asking for promotion to full professor rank and salary but would sacrifice tenure and remain on the coaching tract without it.\u00a0 Further, I would the avoid the politics and risk of promotion to full professor for which I would not be eligible until at least five years at associate professor rank. I was back to that ol\u2019 issue of \u201cwho needs tenure, anyway; it only protects those who are undeserving.\u201d\u00a0 Well, I got my wish and was promoted to full professor at age 36 (coaching tract) and it further drew the ire of selected faculty.<\/p>\n Prior to that time, I was a social animal and really enjoyed life, love, family, food, sex, music, sports, movies, friends, the beach\u2026all of that, then suddenly it changed.\u00a0 I became somewhat withdrawn and depressed and by all accounts, a bit anti-social.\u00a0 I no longer enjoyed the things I loved doing and those with whom I did them. I was angry!\u00a0\u00a0 Recently, I heard a great definition of depression and it certainly fit:\u00a0 \u201cDepression is anger turned inward.\u201d Several years removed from the university environment and on to another career, I deliberately engaged the process of deconstructing this series of events and arrived at the following: I suffered from pride, vanity, ambition, a healthy dose of narcissism and a somewhat fragile ego.\u00a0 Over time, I came to realize that in many ways I was a victim of my own self destruction\u2026with considerable assistance from selected others.<\/p>\n Al and John Hermann in Catalina 1992<\/p><\/div>\n At the conclusion of Dr. Johnson\u2019s tenure as Chair of the department, a brief three year stint, a compromise chair was elected (actually installed by the \u2018elders\u2019). \u00a0That individual was a junior faculty member without administrative experience but was perceived to be non-threatening and malleable by those who wanted to direct from the \u2018closet.\u2019\u00a0 He was young, smart, politically savvy, cunning and a bit ruthless.\u00a0 During his early years on campus we were close friends.\u00a0 We had a lot in common in that we were both east coast born, bred and educated, and we shared similar cultural backgrounds and sensibilities.\u00a0 Once elevated to the chair, all changed.\u00a0 He was smitten with power while primarily serving those who influenced his elevation to \u2018station.\u2019<\/p>\n Al, Nancy, Walt Williamson 1998<\/p><\/div>\n Upon the resignation of John Hermann as Athletic Director which was inspired by a brief encounter with our newly installed university president, our new department chair forwarded a recommendation for his replacement. John\u2019s resignation was inspired (in part) by the president\u2019s insistence that all who were serving in an athletic administrative capacity during a bogus scandal associated with the Men\u2019s Basketball program be terminated. There were two choices to replace John\u2026Walt Williamson and me. Of those choices, Walt was also serving as Head Track and Field Coach where his team won the NCAA Division II championship. Great coach and a great team! Both of us were John\u2019s Associate ADs and the chair sent Walt\u2019s name forward.\u00a0 While Walt may have been the better choice, I believed someone needed to inform me of this decision since I too was a candidate but the silence was deafening and I learned about the appointment in the University Times (and unofficially from my friend, Walt).\u00a0 That was the beginning of the end of my friendship with our chair and his cronies who \u2018pulled the strings\u2019 which made others dance.\u00a0 My relationship with the puppeteers was relegated to cold war status and they would make it their life\u2019s work to send me packing.\u00a0 It took four more years. \u00a0My friend Walt was terminated in two.<\/p>\n Universities pride themselves in the notion that they are THEE place where divergent ideas may come to the table without fear of reprisal.\u00a0 Therein lies the myth.\u00a0 The political environment in academia is best described by a university chancellor who had previously been an elected member to the House of Representatives. When asked by the media, \u201chow would you compare politics in higher education to that within beltway?\u201d\u00a0 His response\u2026\u201doh, that\u2019s easy; politics in academia is much more savage.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cHow so?\u201d asks the correspondent.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s even easier\u201d said the chancellor\u2026 \u201c the stakes are so small.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n My ‘ReFIREment’ dinner<\/p><\/div>\n The first week of January, 1984, I received a letter from the university President, who was now in the fifth year of his \u201creign\u201d, informing me that my position was being reclassified from full professor status to that of assistant professor.\u00a0 Further, my contract would not be renewed and, the end of Spring Quarter, 1984 would be my last at Cal State LA.\u00a0 What the university did not know was that I had been licensed by the NASD (now FINRA) as a financial advisor with Diversified Securities, Inc. in December of 1983\u2026just three weeks prior to my notice.\u00a0 I knew they would eventually get to me somehow, someway, sometime and I was not going to permit that to happen without alternatives.\u00a0 During this cold war, I applied for several university AD jobs and often it would get down to two candidates\u2026. me and the guy who was hired.\u00a0 Typically when a final offer to an AD is made, it is usually a conversation between two presidents that determine the appointment. My candidacy was always stopped at that juncture\u2026at Cal Poly Pomona (twice), Loyola Marymount, Cal State Dominguez Hills (twice), and Pomona College.\u00a0 I was offered the job at UC Santa Cruz but declined\u2026crazy place. Likewise, I was offered the AD\u2019s job at Chapman College (prior to university status) but declined due to a one year contract. That is when I knew I was finished in the academic and athletic world and would have to retool.\u00a0 I had opportunity at Diversified Securities, Inc to become an investment advisor and began an intense self study program in June of 1983 in preparation for the exams.<\/p>\n I wrestled with the idea that I was going to put twenty years of teaching and coaching along with three degrees out to pasture.\u00a0 One doesn\u2019t study for a terminal degree at UCLA on a lark.\u00a0 You expect to use that education and accomplishment in a meaningful way and now it would have little to no bearing on my possibilities for success in an entirely unrelated endeavor.\u00a0 During this same time period, my father was dying and I was going back to Philadelphia on weekends to assist my mother and brother with his care.\u00a0 He passed away the day after Christmas, 1983 and I sat for my NASD exams just two weeks prior. The most difficult part of my separation from the university was knowing how disappointed my dad would have been had he known of my departure.\u00a0 He was so proud of the fact that he had a kid who was a university professor.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad he never knew.<\/p>\n The \u2018take away\u2019 for me was\u2026 Cal State, LA\u00a0 paid for my services but I willingly gave my soul for nothing.\u00a0 If ever I was able to recapture any part of that soul it would never again leave me.\u00a0 It is my personal province and I determine what parts to share and with whom to share them.\u00a0 Needless to say, it was a difficult period in my life but what follows is a tale of redemption and reclamation. \u201cOut of the Ashes Rises the Phoenix\u201d and that is a story for another time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From Riches to Rags \u2026 having proudly entered those hallowed halls of the academy through the front door at age 29 in the Summer Quarter of 1972, I exited through a basement window at the end of Spring Quarter, 1984\u2026 … Continue reading <\/a>\u2026 I enrolled at Temple University as a full time matriculating student in the spring semester of 1961 as a major in Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER).\u00a0 The curriculum was a classical one where we studied all sports in both theory and practice along with biology, anatomy, physiology, exercise physiology, physics, bio- mechanics and anatomical kinesiology. \u00a0Majors were required to take four gymnastics courses all taught by the gymnastics team coach, Carl Patterson.\u00a0 I was always fascinated with gymnastics while in high school but never participated other than that which was required as part of the standard physical education curriculum.\u00a0 In taking my first gymnastics course, I found that I had a trace of talent on the rings when compared with my classmates, and I liked the event.\u00a0 The gym was open to all majors who wished to have more time on the apparatus in addition to regularly scheduled class time. Coach Patterson encouraged his gymnasts to assist any majors who asked for help during team training sessions. OPEN GYM! This was truly an unselfish policy on behalf of the coach in that all coaches, regardless of sport, detest distraction from training.\u00a0 Temple\u2019s gymnastics program was and still is an elite one competing at the highest level in the NCAA.\u00a0 Temple gymnasts have historically been national champions, international competitors and All Americans\u2026 and, remain an integral part of the National USA team since the 1920s.\u00a0 This is a storied program with a rich history and great tradition.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>From South Hills to Cal State LA<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>University Coaching<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a>The precursor\u2026<\/h2>\n
<\/a>The Beginning of the End<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/a>The End<\/h2>\n
<\/a>