ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Home-Field Advantage

At Cal State Fullerton this year, there has been an atmosphere of gloom about state funding for higher education and a feeling of uneasiness about the future of the school’s football program. But almost in defiance of all that uncertainty, the school bravely opened its new 10,000-seat football stadium last weekend amid fanfare and festivity.

It was a joyous moment and offered a hint of the excitement that college football at Fullerton can bring to Orange County if it is played on the appropriate if somewhat smaller scale than that found in the “big time.” The Titans too often find themselves on autumn Saturdays vastly overmatched against such opponents as UCLA, which they must grimly face this week in the Rose Bowl.

At least they can relish for a few days the memory of an opening-day victory over Cal State Northridge and of thousands holding tailgate parties before what was truly a home contest. Fullerton for the last 22 years has been a nomad, wandering around to six different so-called “home fields.” There are even tales of bus drivers getting lost on the way to a home game.

The new stadium still has some rough edges. For example, permanent concession stands have not been completed and an unfinished locker-room building stands behind an end zone. But at least the jokes about the coach sending thank-you notes to every fan are likely to end. And in the face of concerns as recently as last year that the football program would be dropped, opening day indeed offered some promise for the future.