Time to finally put an end to the rumors that football will be cut at Sacramento State.

President Alexander Gonzalez will pick up the tab on an additional $30 million estimate for a renovated football stadium as part of the Recreation, Wellness and Events Center package.

Since students won’t be asked to pay for the increase, Gonzalez is on the hook for $70 million of the total $120 million cost of the project. So far though, he has yet to raise even half of his original $23 million pledge — the $10 million dollar donation of Alex Spanos encompasses most of what has been committed thus far.

But while Gonzalez’ overly optimistic goals may remind you of a seventh grade class president promising candy machines in every classroom, you have to trust his desire to impress.

He, like Sac State, is about building an image. Gonzalez went all in on this one, and if he is unable to make things happen, that image will appear quite flawed.

Gonzalez, agree with him or not, is not an idiot.

Instead of doubting him, let’s relish the man’s abilities. A president with the ability to just go out and raise $70 million bucks, are you kidding? Sounds like a pretty sweet investment to me. Maybe we could hire four or five of these presidents … I want gold desks.

Or maybe we could tack on an extra couple million to pay tutors for our academically troubled athletes — we’ll call them … professors.

Many will argue, question, and say mean things against the focus Gonzalez has placed upon Sac State athletics; that more money and time should be focused on academics over image.

The unfortunate bottom line is however, that it’s much harder to rally donations for our English and math departments.

Athletics, along with the other aspects behind Destination 2010, are the foundation of Sac State’s image. The shallow residents of public opinion are more interested in the look of a campus environment than anything.

Gonzalez understands that better than anyone and is on the right track.

Gonzalez won’t need to have all the money at once. In the original plan, just $23 million was needed to begin the building process. The process will likely be completed in phases, starting with the RWEC portion.

Campus spokesman Frank Whitlatch said that before anything can begin, there must be a strong enough commitment from donors to get approval from the Chancellor’s Office.”We need to know the money is coming in,” he said.

It was only a matter of time before football was put in the picture with the RWEC. It would have been hard to initially pass the RWEC referendum if a portion of the fee was going to a losing football program.

When campaigning for the RWEC began, it was pushed as an avenue for student life and campus involvement. But, at the time, the thought of fees going towards a new football stadium would have been seen as a purely as a push for athletics. Rather than clouding the perception of voters last spring, Gonzalez has found a way to add a cost, without student involvement.

Certainly tricky, but for students, it can only be seen as a positive.

We won’t be paying a dime extra, but we will see the perks. It’s like ordering a Big Mac meal at the drive-thru and accidentally getting an extra cheeseburger.

And I don’t know about everyone else, but I really like free cheeseburgers.

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Jimmy Spencer can be reached at [email protected]