IF the University of Hawaii is short on promotional ideas for its football team, here's one the administration should consider for next week's home game with San Diego State. Reward UH faithful
for showing upEveryone who went to the Fresno State game should get in free, and the ones who can't prove they were at Aloha Stadium to see the 28-16 victory over the Bulldogs have to pay double the price of admission.
This will award the 20,000 faithful who didn't let the threat of rain or the 63-0 wipeout at Colorado State the previous week keep them at home waiting for the television replay. And it will punish the fair-weather fans for running for cover.
The irony of the equation is a majority of those 20,000 fans will have their loyalty tested more next year after UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida announces his plan for scaling the house.
The good seats are going to cost more than the cheap seats -- wow, there's an idea that's on the cutting edge -- and the good games are going to cost more than the bad ones.
IT'S a good thing former head coach Bob Wagner isn't still at UH. He came up with a similar idea when Yoshida was head of the OIA.
Wagner also would be demanding his old job back. He was fired after attendance figures late in the 1995 season resembled a bear market.
But even on his worst night Wagner didn't turn around to see a tickets-distributed count of 28,206, which flashed across the Aloha Stadium Jumbotron Saturday night..
The smallest crowd in Wagner's final season two years ago also was against Fresno State (31,228). Maybe the Rainbows should petition the Western Athletic Conference to keep the Bulldogs off their schedule. Or maybe make that Guaranteed Win Night -- Hawaii has knocked off Fresno State three of the last four times they've met at Aloha Stadium.
This might seem risky, but how about giving each ticket-holder a dollar if Hawaii wins? You must attend the game to be eligible and must stay to the end to collect your refund on the way out.
That will save $20,000 because you know Hawaii fans can't stay for the final gun, even if the Rainbows are ahead. It goes against their nature.
You can't have two promotions on the same weekend, so a good time to start this would be when Air Force comes to town Nov. 1. There will be plenty of military people interested because they win either way.
ONE problem for the UH football team is lack of student interest. They have their own section a few yards away from the Rainbows' bench, but it's rarely rowdy down there.
Since UH controls its own tuition waivers, how about holding a drawing at the end of the season for every student who bought season-ticket packages? The winner gets a tuition waiver the following season.
Again, you have to be present to win, and you must buy the season-ticket package and attend all eight games at Aloha Stadium.
There could also be runner-up prizes. How about letting one winner hold a weekend party at the president's house? Inviting Kenneth Mortimer is optional.
Or how about the standard weekend trip to Las Vegas? You could be a member of the UH traveling party. The football team has made its trip to Glitter Gulch, but the UH men's and women's basketball teams, the baseball team and the women's volleyball team are scheduled to play in Las Vegas this year. Of course, you must agree to stay at a Boyd group hotel in order to be eligible.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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