SO, Fred vonAppen's stay in Hawaii could be coming to an end. Sugar coat UH’s
woes? Not the
Candor ManHe's been rolled over but facing 0-12, there's plenty of reason to suspect vonAppen will go the way of Wagner.
He has not had the most pleasant stay in the islands, and his resume shows he's not disinclined to pull up stakes every so often.
But there's one thing I'd miss from vonAppen, and it's something the regents should've noted by now.
He's got an unflappable sense of humor.
It translates into a media savvy that very few public figures in the islands possess.
I see that humor evaporating more often these days as the walls close in on vonAppen. But vestiges of it remain. Candor is his game, but in a place like this, candor doesn't get you very far.
Take a look around the UH campus and I'm afraid you won't see a lot of coaches who could make you laugh with them in a situation as dire as this one.
Not a lot of color over there.
Yep, vonAppen finds himself working for a rather humorless administration in a rather humorless town.
(Right now, you're glancing up at my mug shot, saying to yourself, "Look who's talking. Is that Bigold angry, hung over or just thoroughly constipated?")
TO oversee a program like UH's, you should have a sense of humor. Right?
But how funny was Hugh Yoshida after the WAC defection?
To be a coach at UH or any NCAA Division I program, you should have a sense of humor.
How funny was Riley Wallace after the NIT?
How funny has Les Murakami been lately?
Problem, as I see it, is that most of the coaches at UH seem to hinge their personalities upon victory.
VonAppen doesn't have a single win, but he still has a personality.
Seems like he's his own man. He's not winning football games, and UH is spiralling toward gridiron infamy. But the coach looks essentially like his own man.
That in itself should indicate he won't be at UH much longer.
Apparently he never achieved his B.S. degree and I think that was one of the requirements for the job.
He can't seem to bleat out those sweet positives when nothing looks positive.
THERE was a time when he was downright annoyingly candid about what a second-rate effort UH was making at being a Division I show.
He's mellowed out a bit now.
Not hollowed out though.
His humor is still dry and his observations about his team's failures cut to the quick. He still can disarm critics with his genuineness.
Mind you, he does circle the wagons on behalf of the program occasionally. He wound up looking rather ridiculous when he slammed Bob Hogue last spring for suggesting that Wally English might not be UH's offensive coordinator this season.
But vonAppen has handled himself pretty well through countless travails this past year. And what's gone wrong in the football program is not entirely his fault. Not by a long shot.
We all know the problems emanate from the top.
So, keep the one-liners coming, Fred, and don't let the stoics you work for change you.
If they want to keep you in a no-win situation, make the best of it with your wit, poise and honesty.
I prefer your eloquence to a whine in this situation.
Thanks for not trying to convince us the iceberg just ahead is only a mirage.
Pat Bigold has covered sports for daily newspapers
in Hawaii and Massachusetts since 1978.