BEFORE Tuesday night's controlled scrimmage, the last time I saw the University of Hawaii football team at Aloha Stadium was on Nov. 30. At least this year
there is some hopeThat night, I went home and poured myself a stiff drink . . . to drown my sorrows. The Rainbows had just finished their worst season in history, losing 59-10 to Wisconsin as the Badgers' freshman running back Ron Dayne ran for 339 yards, an all-time opponent record.
After the Rainbows' scrimmage the other night, I went home and poured myself a stiff drink . . . to celebrate possibly happier times.
I don't want to get prematurely excited or raise the hopes of Rainbow football fans. But the 'Bows might, just might have recruited a gem of a running back in Chuck Tharp -- as in sharp -- a 5-foot-8, 183-pound speedster from Mountain View, Calif.
He opened a lot of eyes, including those of the Rainbow coaches, with a 70-yard scoring run the first time he touched the ball at Aloha Stadium.
"I was impressed with Tharp, but I kind of expected him to look like that out here," said Coach Fred vonAppen, who first envisioned the true freshman as a kick returner. Now it appears as though the explosive runner has the inside track as the starting tailback as well.
Sure, Tharp's 70-yarder came during a controlled scrimmage and against the scout team. But it sure looked good, seeing someone in a green-and-white uniform breaking off a long, nonstop run for a change.
Put it this way. Nobody did anything like that in a controlled scrimmage last year. Even against the scout team.
And the Rainbows -- to a man -- enjoyed an enthusiastic workout. Maybe the idea of going to Aloha Stadium after being sequestered at Barbers Point for 10 days had a lot to do with it. They've scheduled another workout today at the Halawa facility, a way of getting them acclimated to the place, according to vonAppen.
"It was good to get into the stadium. A feel for what it's going to be like in a couple of weeks," vonAppen said.
"For some of our young guys, it was their first time in here, so it was a nice experience for 'em. We told them we hope there would be a few more people in here."
WHAT also cheered me on my way out of the stadium wasn't only Tharp's outing. But quarterbacks Tim Carey and Dan Robinson, a pair of 6-foot-3 slingers, spiraling passes 50 yards downfield. So what if the majority of them went uncaught?
The prospect of a vertical passing game this season should elicit more cheers, not only from the grandstands but the bonnie bottled kind as well.
Still, after a 2-10 season, there are no great expectations for the upcoming Rainbow football season. They're picked to finish seventh (of eight teams) in their WAC division.
"I don't take it personally if they don't expect much," vonAppen said. "Some of the publications that prognosticate the year didn't have our correct quarterback depth chart. So sometimes they don't know. It's just as well."
Last year, my glass was always half empty. This season, I expect it to be always half full.
So call me an optimist. I'll drink to that.
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It's interesting to note that the two Rainbows who could be the most exciting offensively and defensively this season are both wearing jersey No. 21. It's the number of senior Eddie Klaneski, an All-WAC defensive back, and freshman tailback Charles Tharp.
Duplicate numbers on a roster are OK as long as both players aren't on the field at the same time. Both Klaneski and Tharp figure to be on the field at the same time as kick returners, so one of them will have to change jersey numbers.
Will seniority prevail?