Photo By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
University of Hawaii seniors, and a youthful admirer, take a bow
following their final game as Rainbow players Saturday night
at Aloha Stadium.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Is this thing on?

If it is, hopefully University of Hawaii president Kenneth Mortimer and athletic director Hugh Yoshida are paying attention.

In case you weren't aware of this, the future of the Rainbows football program rests in your hands. Both of you were at last Saturday night's shameful and humiliating 59-10 loss to the University of Wisconsin, a team that finished seventh in the Big Ten.

Had head coach Barry Alvarez been a stat man, he would have allowed freshman tailback Ron Dayne to become the first runner in Division I history to break 400 yards in one game.

Heck, coming into the nonconference matchup, the burly back only needed 476 yards to crack 2,000, a number he would have certainly reached had he not been pulled from the lineup midway through the third quarter.

His 339-yard performance only highlights how far Hawaii's football team has fallen since Mortimer and Yoshida inherited a healthy program shortly after its greatest season.

"I hope this game is the final wake-up call for our administration," a downcast UH coach Fred vonAppen said. "Barry Alvarez came up to me after the game and said we were helpless to stop them.

"It will continue to be that way unless we address several key areas immediately. We've already talked about doing something and that's just led to more in-fighting. What we need from our administration is action. Not tomorrow. Not next year. Now."

Mortimer is a key part to this formula. He made one of his first major speeches as UH president at a Holiday Bowl luncheon in 1992.

At that happier occasion, he complimented former head coach Bob Wagner and athletic director Stan Sheriff for their time and effort, and the positive publicity this overachieving team brought to the island chain.

Perhaps feeling an air of invincibility, he later agreed Hawaii no longer needed to run the risk of partial academic qualifiers, a decision that had a direct effect on the steady decline of the program.

He then concurred with academic advisers that players be required to take a minimum of 15 hours a semester, instead of 12. The heavier workload has led to many of the problems plaguing the program the last two years.

Matters were only made worse when Mortimer decided to cut $1 million from an already anorexic budget when compared not only to the major-college programs, but to the other teams in the Western Athletic Conference as well.

Yoshida also has to shoulder part of the blame for not reacting quickly enough to these budget constraints. Only after vonAppen went off like a Big Island volcano did Yoshida issue his public appeal.

By George F. Lee Star-Bulletin
Wisconsin freshman Ron Dayne rushed for 339 yards and was a load
to bring down as Hawaii linebacker Stephen Gonzales found out.
Dayne is the all-time leader for yards gained rushing by a freshman.

All the available money is being poured into this economic black hole. Over the next year, about $1 million dollars will be spent on improving the softball facility and starting up a women's water polo team. These are all necessary expenditures - as Brown University recently discovered in court - but not sound economic ventures in these lean financial times.

For this to become an attractive football locale once more, the administration must improve the facilities, upgrade the coaches' salaries to slow down the revolving door, take a look at loosening academic standards and tell Aloha Stadium that nearly $1 million in rental fees is outrageous.

If not, then the Rainbows must scale down its nonconference games. UH fans love seeing top-quality teams such as Notre Dame, Michigan, Arizona and Northwestern, but there's nothing enjoyable about witnessing a massacre.

Even Wisconsin fans headed toward the exits early in the fourth quarter, tired of watching the carnage between the Christians and the lions. It isn't fair to anybody.

"Especially not the kids," UH defensive coordinator Don Lindsey said. "This is a Division II football team trying to compete at the highest level.

"As anyone can see, we're light years from competing against the Wisconsins, much less the Notre Dames and the Michigans. I don't care what the fans want to see.

"We have to play teams we can be competitive against, before scheduling the monsters of the midway. It starts at the top with the president and the athletic director. They are the ones who will ultimately decide the future of this program."

Given the recent course of events, that's kind of scary. Hopefully, these two can reconcile their differences with vonAppen, and get on the same page before they give the whole show away.

As one coach recently put it, "This program is headed in the same direction as Pacific, Cal State-Fullerton and Long Beach State - the graveyard."

Four years ago, that statement would have been considered sacrilegious. Today, no truer words have been spoken.