Will gaining a spot in the NCAA Tournament give Reynolds such commanding public relations leverage that Cegles wouldn’t dare make such a drastic move? As the 49ers commence post-season play tonight at the Anaheim Convention Center, the subplots surrounding the team concerning the uncertain status of Reynolds actually has stirred more intrigue than the team itself which figures to waltz through the tournament this weekend as easily as it waltzed through its Big West schedule. Vic Cegles has said that all sorts of factors will weigh on his eventual decision – monetary concerns, NCAA concerns, discipline concerns, recruiting concerns, community concerns, etc., etc., etc. – and that he won’t be influenced one bit about the pressures attendant to making what could be an unpopular move in some quarters. You know, like deciding to get rid of a coach coming off two successful seasons and seeming to have the 49er basketball program headed in a positive direction. Larry Reynolds would make it much easier for Cegles if his team fails to win the BW tournament, but that is as likely to happen as Bill Shumard ever admitting he made a mistake hiring Larry Reynolds in the first place five years ago. Reynolds is one of those fascinating people in sports – Norv Turner and Paul Hackett are others who come to mind – who just seems to endure when others in similar situations are casually cast aside. As you might know, Turner has wound up becoming the new head coach of the San Diego Chargers even though he proved to be a lousy head coach in previous tours with the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins. Will winning the Big West Tournament be enough for Big West Coach of the Year Larry Reynolds to keep his job? Will finishing with a 24-7 regular-season record prevent the new Long Beach State athletic director Vic Cegles from discarding the 49ers’ basketball coach? And Hackett was a nightmare at Pittsburgh, where he was fired, and then somehow wrangled himself the top job at USC, where, predictably, he again was a nightmare and again fired. But, somehow, Turner and Hackett and many others of their ilk manage to survive despite below-par records – and so has Larry Reynolds. And you just know Larry Reynolds won’t make it easy on Cegles, thirsting to bring his own man into town. I’ll be shocked if the 49ers lose in the next 48 hours because Larry Reynolds reminds me of an old movie serial hero in which the guy is constantly on the precipice of disaster – only to miraculously escape his evil fate in the final agonizing moment. Shumard oh-so-reluctantly was set to detach Reynolds in the spring of 2004 after Reynolds started that season 3-18 to run his overall record in Long Beach to a rather unsightly 14-61, but Mr. Nice Guy lived up to his nickname by deciding to keep him when the 49ers won seven of their final nine starts to finish 10-20. And then last season when Reynolds started off 6-8, it seemed he once again was destined for oblivion, especially with a new president, F. King Alexander, on the scene with a strong basketball pedigree, but once again Reynolds extricated himself from certain doom, as his team won 12 of its final 16 games. Can Larry Reynolds successfully navigate the tightrope again? Well, for sure, his team will have to emerge victorious this weekend, which to me is a preordained certainty. That still might not be enough to spare Reynolds in Cegles’ view, but what if the 49ers go on to win an NCAA game or even two? So help me George Mason, such strange things do happen during March Madness. Then it would become quite tricky for Vic Cegles. He can talk all he wants about his strong resolve and how he will do what he thinks will be best for the athletic future of the university, but he’s a smart enough fellow – after all, he scored 1,600 on his SAT before entering Bucknell – to understand the ramifications of firing a coach coming off a season in which he won his conference’s regular-season title, its post-season tournament and then did well in the NCAA. Vic Cegles himself would come under severe widespread scrutiny if he took such a tack with Reynolds under those circumstances. This will be a nerve-wracking weekend for Larry Reynolds, who knows he won’t be returning to Long Beach should his team lose. But it also will be nerve-wracking for Vic Cegles, who knows how complicated his decision on Larry Reynolds will be should the 49ers keep winning which, ironically, Cegles will be passionately rooting for them to do. … Kobe Bryant should desist with his cheap shot antics, and stop whining how they’re unintentional. Who’s he kidding?. … After interviewing chief of police Anthony Batts earlier this week at his downtown office, I was escorted to the Long Beach Police Department jail on the sixth floor by booking sergeant William Burns and then was shown around the premises by a nice fellow named Curtis Adkins. I have claustrophobia, and asked Adkins what they would do with a person afflicted with my condition. “You would be treated like everyone else,” he said, as I shuddered at the thought of being caged in a small room in which I’m unable to depart, a dark, haunting scenario reminiscent of my first marriage. Natch, I wanted to see the drunk tank, and one solitary figure lay sleeping it off on the floor near a single open toilet that isn’t exactly ideal for those like me who prefer privacy during the call of nature. “This is the suite I will wind up in if I’m ever brought in here,” I said to Atkins, and, of course, I was kidding since I’m back on the wagon even though the wheels are wobbly and are a serious threat to fall off any certain evening. “It gets pretty crowded on weekends,” he replied. “I’ll do my best to avoid the rush,” I cracked. William Burns, a Millikan High and Long Beach State graduate, then took me down a couple of floors to the women’s jail, and was escorted around by Deborah Rodgers, a former Jordan High athletic star with a vibrant personality and suspicious reading habits. “I never miss one of your columns,” she said, and I swear she seems like such an intelligent lady, too. Actually, I was quite impressed how clean and neat both the men’s and women’s jails were and also with the professionalism of the staff. But I’d prefer my visits to such premises to continue to be voluntary rather than involuntary. … One of the notable absentees at the Bill Clinton talk the other day at the Long Beach Boys and Girls’ Club fundraiser was, of all people, Art Levine, the cable TV pest who usually squirms his way in to every high profile function in town. When asked why he wasn’t present, Levine said something about the $1,000 dinner tab, and I should have known that was the reason since the old Yalie has a Tom Lasorda reputation for frugality. You always can find Levine in local singles bars, because that’s all he spends. I swear the guy’s so cheap you can hear him squeak when he walks, although he will give you the shirt off his back if it’s the one with holes in it he acquired from Goodwill a quarter century ago. … Two musicians with different instruments and different athletic backgrounds, Joe (Merlot) Ven, a guitar-playing one-time pugilist, and Bond (007) Nichols, a 6-foot-6 harmonica-playing one-time basketball player of spectacularly limited skills at Poly High, will be displaying their ample talents in the upcoming days at a couple of restaurants next to Alamitos Bay. Ven has a velvety voice and can sing ballads in English, Spanish, Italian, Filipino, Portuguese, Polish and, believe it or not, Armenian, and will be doing so Tuesday evening at McKenna’s. Nichols and his band will be performing Sunday between 4-8 p.m. at Buster’s with I hear a special guest appearance by his long-time lady friend, Karen Perez, a one-time opera singer before soccer mom activities took priority. … Figured Bill Clinton would brush me off when I informed him the other day I was nothing more than a sportswriter and wasn’t one of the local civic leaders he was supposed to be meeting, but the ex-President showed why he’s considered one of the best campaigners in the history of American politics. Without hesitation, he engaged me in a basketball conversation that lasted a couple of minutes, much to the mounting impatience and displeasure of those politicos not exactly overjoyed that their time with Clinton was being shortened by his discussing hoops with me. … Skip Keesal’s staff, with the highly efficient Kelli Gardener in charge, did a terrific job making sure the proceedings unfolded smoothly at the Boys and Girls’ Club event, and the local director of the clubs, Don Rodriguez, also played a vital role. … Have been enduring absolutely the worst cold of my life in recent weeks, and last Friday afternoon decided to stop by Phil Trani’s Restaurant to be cheered up by Mr. Cheerful himself, Phil Trani, whom I hadn’t seen for too long a time. Naturally, one of the last of the great saloonkeepers insisted I have a vodka tonic cold remedy, and before you knew it I was surrounded by such professional imbibers as Bernie (The Prince of Tabs) Selmanson, Paul (The Cocktail King) Chastain and Bad Stu Ledsam. And then who should walk in later was my long-lost luvvy dear, Joyful Janet Underwood, who I had vainly put out an APB on nine months ago and who I was shocked to see after her mysteriously lengthy disappearance. Blessedly, she is quite alive, quite healthy, quite happy – a curious phenomenon that strikes lady friends of mine no longer in proximity – and quite content teaching science at Hughes Middle School right here in Long Beach. After Trani’s, taxied over to McKenna’s for Junk Bond Jimmy Werner’s surprise birthday party staged by his girlfriend, Beatific Bobbi Whitehead, Carolyn (The Tulsa Bombshell) Stenberg and Donna (The Pasta Queen) Albano. That, of course, resulted in further drinking, not to mention too much talking, vamping and dancing. Woke up Saturday morning with the most miserable parlay imaginable – a ghastly hangover to go with an equally ghastly cold that had gotten ominously worse. Begged my doc, Franklin Lowe, to stick me in a hospital, but, instead, he recommended AA intervention. No worry. I swear I’m not going to touch another drink until at least next week when I shoot over to Paris for a few days. … Breathless with excitement, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach bigwig, Mr. Jim Michaelian, revealed Thursday a blockbuster – the names of the two bands that will be performing on the April 13-15 weekend of his Champ Car race. On Friday evening, a Hispanic group from Argentina, Los Enanitos Verdes will perform in front of the Terrace Theater and then the next night the alternative rock band Taking Back Sunday will strut its stuff. “We are thrilled to get bands of this stature for our event,” said Michaelian, himself quite a musician once adept at playing, of all things, a bugle. … Doug Krikorian can be reached at doug.krikorian@presstelegram.com 160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! read more