Wednesday, July 29, 1998
‘Time to put up
or shut up’
UHlinebacker Rinda Brooks
By Paul Arnett
says that's the attitude the 'Bows
should have for the upcoming
WACfootball season
Star-BulletinLAS VEGAS - The higher powers in the Western Athletic Conference don't want to belong to a club that would have the University of Hawaii as a member.
''So we've got to go out and smash them in the mouth to let them know we're just as good as they are,'' senior linebacker Rinda Brooks said during yesterday's WAC media session at the MGM Grand Hotel.
''The eight teams that left basically said they are better than us. OK, I can deal with it. But it's up to us to prove them wrong. To me, it's time to put up or shut up.
''We can say we're just as good as they are, but the real proof is on the football field. It doesn't affect me personally because I'm a senior. But I worry for my younger teammates because you don't know what it means for the future of this program.''
Senior wide receiver Eleu Kane held similar feelings about the eight defectors and believed playing four of them - Utah, Brigham Young University, San Diego State and New Mexico - for possibly the final time could be a motivating factor.
''I'm sure the coaches will use it before each game because it is kind of insulting,'' Kane said. ''Those are some of the best football programs in our league. We can say we're angry for not being included. But we have to prove we can play with them.''
UH head coach Fred vonAppen said that the us-against-them mode could carry the Rainbows only so far during the upcoming season. In his mind, it's a given.
''We should have that same kind of mentality with any school we play on a football field,'' vonAppen said. ''It's us vs. the world every weekend. My concern rests more with the future of our program.
''We have to address several key issues in the coming years or we could find ourselves out in the Pacific with nobody to play but Guam. Our guys should feel a little excluded, but I agree with Rinda. It's our third year here and it's time we proved ourselves worthy.''
That was a theme sounded by several coaches and players of the eight teams left behind in the WAC. Trying to keep the league viable without exuding an inferiority complex was the order of the day.
''There are still some pretty good teams in the league,'' Brooks said. ''I grew up in Texas when SMU, TCU and Rice were in the old Southwest Conference. People know who they are around the country.
''It's really up to us to prove everybody wrong. I don't worry about polls or what other schools think of us because it really doesn't matter.
"What counts is the scoreboard. If we win, then we earn everyone's respect.''
To Kane, it's a matter of learning how to win.
''We have an entirely new attitude on this team,'' Kane said. ''Last year, we may have been satisfied with playing some teams close. That won't be good enough this year.
''If we want to get out of the cellar, we have to win. No more moral victories. Close isn't good enough."
In addition to the four departing WAC schools, Hawaii has to open the season with Arizona and close with Northwestern and Michigan.
''I'm not really dwelling on the WAC breakup because we have so much to worry about as a football team,'' vonAppen said. ''If we take care of business on the field, put a lot of people in the stands, then maybe other teams and conferences will look at us as a viable product.
''Being left out of the eight was strictly a business decision. We haven't been playing that well and drawing that well at the gate. In this day and age, you have to be an attractive commodity. We haven't been and that has to change quickly or we're not going to belong to any club in the future.''
