WHILE taking notes on nothing in particular, I walked into the interview room after the University of Hawaii basketball game Wednesday night expecting to see Batman and Robin. Dynamic Duo
shouldn’t have fled the sceneNobody told me they successfully eluded reporters, leaving a trail of no comments concerning the crucial loss to San Diego State.
Holy smoke. What's up with that, Bat fans? Media darlings Anthony Carter and Alika Smith have left the building. The interview room was suddenly as busy as Jay Leno's Green Room on a Saturday night.
Such was not the case during the glory days of the season four short weeks ago, when national rankings and talk of automatic NCAA bids were being tossed around like this was Duke or North Carolina.
It's easy to step up to the microphone and smile for the cameras when you're winning. It doesn't take a lot of character to do that.
Fortunately, senior forward Micah Kroeger decided not to return to the Bat Cave with his Bat buddies after Hawaii suffered its fifth loss in eight games. But let's face it, when a guy scores only two points, he's not going to be the focus of many stories.
That's why Carter and Smith have to be there, because the people of Gotham City want to know why the wheels are suddenly spinning off the Batmobile.
Four months ago, local reporters walked into Hawaii's football locker room after the 63-0 shellacking at Colorado State. It wasn't a pretty sight.
But every player who was asked to be interviewed stood up and fielded questions like presidential press secretary Mike McCurry at a Monica Lewinsky news conference. They didn't want to talk about their failings, but they did.
Wally World hasn't been closed for good just yet, despite television reports to the contrary. Like buzzards eyeing road kill, rumors have swirled over offensive coordinator Wally English's head ever since his hitch screen in the Notre Dame game.
There were plenty of rumors concerning assistant coach Doug Semones, too. On several occasions, the Star-Bulletin was on the verge of reporting that Semones would return to Kahuku High at the end of the 1997 season. But fortunately, we waited patiently until all the facts were in.
The trick in this business is to know when rumors become fact. Hell, we start half of those rumors. So sometimes it's best to wait and see, rather than reporting, then regretting the error.
For those who believe in fate, a date switch on this year's Hawaii football schedule is a cosmic testament to karma. Two of Hawaii's road games were flip-flopped to accommodate an ESPN Thursday telecast between San Diego State and Brigham Young University.
UH's games at Fresno State on Oct. 31 and Texas-El Paso on Nov. 14 have been swapped. That means the Rainbows will play the Miners on Halloween, just as they did six years ago (UH won, 41-21).
That was the last time the Rainbows won a league game on the road. Coincidence? I think not.
Extending UH head coach Fred vonAppen's contract to three seasons was critical for this year's football recruiting class. At least that's how Rainbows recruiting coordinator Don Dillon sees it. "If we had been operating under a one-year contract, no way any of these higher-caliber players would have come here," Dillon said. "They want to know the coaching staff that recruited them will still be around when they graduate."
The catch is, vonAppen is yet to agree to the deal, which was approved in principle by the Board of Regents earlier this year.
VonAppen was scheduled to meet with KFVE officials today to discuss the possibility of a new television contract. He is still owed on the last one, but is hopeful something can be worked out.
"We're getting close," vonAppen said. "But I'm still waiting to light the cigar."
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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