FUNNY how the ball sometimes bounces in the game of life. Benson was Hawaii’s
loss, WAC’s gainHad Karl Benson decided to pursue his baseball coaching career instead of going into administration, he might have become a permanent fixture in the Rainbow baseball dugout. Instead, he visits Hawaii as part of his duties as Western Athletic Conference Commissioner.
Benson was destined to be intertwined with Rainbow athletics one way or another. In 1979, the year Hawaii joined the WAC, he was offered a graduate assistant job by Rainbow baseball coach Les Murakami.
"I was headed here, had applied to graduate school," said Benson, who was dating a flight attendant based in Honolulu at the time. "But the school I was coaching at (Tacoma's Fort Steilacoom) offered me the athletic director's job, I stayed there."
It was the flight attendant -- Sharon Ryan -- who moved instead. The Bensons were married in Honolulu over 18 years ago.
One gets the feeling that, as long as Benson is the WAC commissioner and Hawaii wants to remain in the conference, that marriage is pretty solid, too. And regardless of when the rotating quadrants become permanent divisions, Benson promises that Hawaii will always be in the Pacific Division.
THE face of the WAC is destined to change. There is talk of schools moving to the Pacific 10, Big Ten or Big 12, talk that escalates during postseason play when WAC teams are left out of the NCAA Tournament or selected to a less prestigious bowl game.
"Unless something happens in those other conferences, I don't see changes in WAC membership," said Benson. "If the Big Ten expands, then it might create some trickle-down affect. You wonder what it would do to all the other conferences.
"I'd like the talk to be done in a quieter fashion. We're trying to build the WAC. It hurts our efforts when there's a sense of change coming from your own members."
Change has been the one constant in the WAC since its formation in 1962. It has expanded four times, lost two of its original six members, added women's athletic programs and grown to become the largest -- in number, region and time zones -- in the country.
Some of that change is reflected in the turnover of administration. Just four of the 10 school presidents and four of the 10 athletic directors who voted for the expansion to 16 teams in 1995 remain.
THE rotating quad format is again under fire as schools realize the revenue potential from building permanent rivalries and cutting travel costs. The move is toward an east-west alignment which would put Utah and Brigham Young in with Hawaii, Fresno State, San Jose State, San Diego State and UNLV.
The problem is that it leaves the WAC with a natural 7-9 geographic split, something that works for basketball but not football.
"At least some of the schools who were resistant are willing to look at the possibility of permanent divisions," said Benson, the WAC commissioner since 1994. "We've managed to confuse our fans and the media. We need to fix that."
One of the biggest challenges Benson faces is renegotiating the television package. Being part of ESPN's Big Monday package has been a success, with ratings three times higher than past regional broadcasts.
"Obviously, the best place to play Big Monday games is in Hawaii at the natural game time of 7 p.m," said Benson. "We'll be looking for more games here in the future.
"When people complain about having to travel to Hawaii, I remind them that because of the Hawaii exemption, teams can get an extra game and extra revenue. The WAC has benefited from Hawaii's membership."
And the WAC has benefited from Hawaii's loss of Benson 19 years ago.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.