Wyoming safety Trent Gamble trips up UHrunning back Lonn Kalama during Saturday's game. Associated Press

Others claim the Rainbows are only in a period of transition, that given time and support, Hawaii will emerge from this dormant state and become the successful program it once was under under coaches Dick Tomey and Bob Wagner.

But if you saw any or all of Saturday's humbling 66-0 loss to the University of Wyoming, a team hard-pressed to beat Idaho and Iowa State the previous two weekends, you know it's light years from happening.

Right now, first-year coach Fred vonAppen and his restless band of assistants feel they were sold a bill of goods by athletic director Hugh Yoshida.

So much so that vonAppen plans to meet with Yoshida today to iron out some logistical problems the Rainbows encountered on their trip to Laramie, Wyo.

"We've just been shellacked by Wyoming and we're sitting in the Denver airport waiting for a flight that's two hours late," vonAppen said last night.

"What do I see while we're sitting there, but the University of Michigan (which beat Colorado) driving up in four buses to the tarmac of their charter plane.

"I couldn't help but feel the irony of that situation. They're back home in Ann Arbor before we even get to San Francisco. From now on, Hugh or one of his assistants will be going with us on every trip so they can see what it's like and learn how it's done."

Coach Fred vonAppen, left, shares a
happier moment with athletic director Hugh Yoshida
during fall camp at Barbers Point.
Photo by Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin

Granted, this isn't all Yoshida's doing. He has attempted to bring the program into the 20th century before the 21st begins.

But the problem is, most officials at the only Division I program in the state don't have any idea how a Division I program is supposed to work. Lack of experience can be seen at every corner.

To make matters worse, Gov. Ben Cayetano and UH president Kenneth Mortimer decided to chop $1.2 million from an athletic budget that already paled in comparison to the those of schools in the Pac-10, Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern conferences.

It makes it doubly difficult when the paying public demands Hawaii schedule schools such as Notre Dame and Michigan, but then doesn't offer any money - other than the price of admission - to help the Rainbows compete with the teams they demand they play.

Caught in the middle of this dilemma is a coaching staff that knows how it is supposed to work, but realizes it never will here, given the current state of affairs.

They say privately that promises were made by Yoshida that haven't been kept.

"We feel we've already done a lot of things coach vonAppen has asked of us," Yoshida said last week. "But it's going to take time to get these other things done."

VonAppen believes the athletic department has had eight months to get things done, and is only placating him now.

Yes, it's probably not politically correct to fly in the face of Hawaii's standard "That's the way it's always been done here" response.

But vonAppen believes it's time somebody said the only way Hawaii is going to have a competitive football team in the near future is to change its ways, cut through the Soviet Union-like red tape and start doling out some dollars before the next ice age.

As of now, Hawaii officials are more concerned about gender equity than financial solvency. But should the football team go under, how long do you think the WAC is going to keep the Rainbows around as a member?

About that long.

If the Rainbows need a role model to study, a good place to start would be the University of Utah. At the beginning of this decade, Utes coach Ron McBride inherited a program that was as bad as Hawaii's is now.

With the help of the university and local boosters, the Utes have emerged as the league's premier team. To make matters worse, they have done it at the expense of Hawaii by coming in and raiding the local talent, many of whom are not eligible to play here.

UH offensive coordinator Guy Benjamin and vonAppen were watching the Georgia-South Carolina game on Saturday while waiting at the airport.

"You should have seen this back South Carolina had," Benjamin said of Duce Staley, who rushed for 170 yards.

Upon learning that Staley was originally recruited here by former UH offensive coordinator Paul Johnson, but was ruled academically ineligible, he groaned, "Don't tell me that."

Academically, Hawaii is not Stanford. Never has been, never will be. Mortimer should realize this and try to reach a workable solution with Yoshida on nonqualifiers.

Imagine what Hawaii's football team would have been like in the 1980s had players such as Jesse Sapolu not been afforded the opportunity of a college education.

Could the Rainbows have won the Holiday Bowl in 1992 without the services of Taase Faumui, Maa Tanuvasa and Ivin Jasper? Unlikely.

Academics is a good place to start, but not to end. The athletic department also has to learn how to market itself. As an example of how not to do it, the first schedule card released this year came through the offices of Mayor Jeremy Harris.

Getting the students directly involved - via the novel idea of a pep rally on campus before each game - would help generate interest from an important source.

Season-ticket sales from the students and faculty numbered less than 1,000 this season. A school such as Texas A&M has 25,000 students at every game.

This weekend Hawaii hosts Boise State. If the Rainbows can get their Xs and Os in order, they might have a shot at winning their first game of the season. The question is, will there be anybody there to see it?

If people stay away in droves, the delicate budget could come crashing down, leaving Yoshida little leeway to meet some of vonAppen's expectations.

Without those demands being met, there's little reason to believe Hawaii will be any better any time soon. As of now, this is a dead team walking.

Teams: Boise State Broncos at Hawaii Rainbows

When: Saturday, 7:07 p.m., Aloha Stadium.

Weekend update: Boise State lost to Eastern Washington, 27-21, onSaturday when Maurice Perigo scored on a 28-yard interception return with 4:52 remaining. Boise State, was held to 43 yards rushing in the first half.

Facts & figures: Boise State, which bolted the Division I-AA Big Sky Conference to join the Division I-A Big West this season, is 1-2.