NO more Seinfeld after this week. There have been those wondering if this would also be the last they'd see of Les Murakami as baseball coach for the University of Hawaii. There’ll be more of
Les next seasonWell, goodbye Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer. But, hello Les. Like McArthur, he will return.
His Rainbows ended yet another disappointing season, failing to go anywhere in the postseason for the fifth straight year. It seemed as though it was only yesterday that they dominated the Western Athletic Conference.
Murakami's baseball program has fallen on hard times, finishing among the WAC also-rans once again. They were 12-18 in conference play -- the only thing that really mattered -- thereby negating a 34-win season that included Murakami's 1,000th coaching victory. Never mind that, among the WAC teams, only Rice won more games.
Even more troubling, fans were staying away in droves. Even those with tickets. There were 98,441 tickets issued for 39 dates, but the turnstile count -- the people who actually showed up -- was only 48,263. We're talking more than 50,000 no-shows.
Not surprisingly, rumors were rampant about Murakami's future.
One circulating said that athletic director Hugh Yoshida gave Murakami an ultimatum to make a change in his coaching staff or else. Another said that mainland recruits were leaving again because they were dissatisfied with how the program was being run.
OBVIOUSLY, not a healthy situation. Coaches have been fired for less. Remember Bob Wagner?
True or not, none of the rumors could be substantiated.
The two players who plan on leaving -- Joe Whitsett and Brandon Martin -- said, at least for the record, it's not because of the coaches. And Yoshida said that Murakami had not been given any such ultimatum.
Even if it were so, Murakami said he'd quit first before he'd fire any of his assistants. "They had nothing to do with what happened."
If anything, Murakami has Yoshida's unqualified support.
"From a longevity standpoint, Les has done a lot for baseball and the state of Hawaii. There are issues to be discussed, recruiting for one," Yoshida said. "But Les is a fixture and has been good for the program."
Yoshida was asked how he could reconcile firing Wagner, when the football attendance waned, and not Murakami, whose once money-making program was $600,000 in the red this season.
"We're talking apples and oranges," Yoshida said.
"Two different personalities were involved. And the very nature of the sport itself. Football is not only more high profile, it's the engine that runs the entire athletic program. We had to do something there. There was also the academic issue."
AS for Murakami, who has three years more on his contract, he says he's already looking forward to next season. "I can't wait for the season to start," he said.
"Next year with the new WAC format, it'll be better for us," Murakami said. It calls for every team to play a three-game series with each other, with the best six advancing to a double-elimination postseason tournament.
If there was a negative this season, Murakami said, it was the number of injuries, not counting vertigo. "Maybe I should go to church," Murakami told those attending last night's awards banquet at the Hawaii Prince Hotel.
Pitching, the lack of it, didn't help. A telling example was that a sophomore first baseman, Jamie Aloy, was named the team's most outstanding pitcher.
So despite a disappointing season, last night's awards banquet was not the Last Supper for Les Murakami.