violations Hazelton committed during his tenure. The 70-page report
took two months to complete and highlighted some serious rules
violations, which included:
* The Bulldog staff lured players to Burbank High for the sole
purpose of playing football.
* The staff also helped get athletes apartments in the city, and
some teen-agers lived there without adult supervision.
* The staff encouraged or assisted players in transferring to
Burbank High and other schools, using enticement of tutorial
services.
The report also said then board President Joe Hooven "may have
exerted undue influence on a Burroughs High student ... to transfer
to Burbank High School."
You would think with all of the rule-breaking and recruiting,
Hazelton would put together a winning program and lead the Bulldogs
to success. However, the contrary was true.
In his two seasons with the program, Hazelton's teams went 4-16
and 0-8 in the Foothill League. In 1995, the Bulldogs were 1-9, with
their only victory coming from a forfeit against Crescenta Valley.
That doesn't say much about Hazelton's ability as a coach.
In a true testament to the type of teams Hazelton cultivated, his
final game with Burbank left a negative exclamation point on his
tenure of mischief. During the annual Burbank-Burroughs game, the
contest had to be halted with 3:21 left after Bulldog players got
into a brawl with their rivals.
As damaging as these infractions were, there was one incident that
overshadowed all of Hazelton's bag of tricks.
In June 1996, Hazelton pleaded no contest in Burbank Municipal
Court to disturbing the peace in connection with an incident
involving one of his players.
Hazelton was originally charged with failing to report an alleged
sexual encounter between a 17-year-old Bulldog football player and
the 51-year-old president of a fund-raising organization for local
schools.
The player told police he allegedly had sexual intercourse with
the woman on the same night she allegedly told him she would provide
funding for the Burbank football team in exchange for sex.
Even before he came to Burbank there were questions about
Hazelton's involvement in other CIF rules violations.
While at Van Nuys Montclair Prep in 1990, the Mounties were barred
from playoff competition by the CIF because of alleged rules
infractions. Montclair Prep was also expelled from the Alpha League
because of circumstances stemming from the same incident.
With all that controversy in his background, it is unbelievable
