THERE'S this great scene in the movie, "Analyze This." Actually, one of many great scenes. Bring an end to
vonAppen era—give the
guy his moneyRobert DeNiro plays Paul Vitti, a mob figure who is being groomed to take over as the capo of capos. Trouble is, he suffers from anxiety attacks because of the stress of his job. He can't seem to bring himself to whack people. So he seeks therapeutic help from a mild-mannered shrink played by Billy Crystal.
In this scene, Vitti confronts his rival, Primo Sindone, played by Chazz Palminteri, and asks that they end their feud, that they need to find some closure. Vitti says his piece and walks off. Sindone, still distrustful, asks one of his goons to find out what this "closure" is, as if it was some kind of malignant disease.
Life seems to be imitating art.
The University of Hawaii football program is suffering from the same lack of trust and unresolved feelings. UH president Kenneth Mortimer and athletic director Hugh Yoshida can't seem to find a fitting closure with fired football coach Fred vonAppen.
VonAppen was fired after the football Rainbows went 0-12 last season and 5-31 in his three years as coach. And he has been in limbo ever since.
"A lot time has passed since I was fired and nothing has been resolved," said vonAppen, who felt that the university hasn't been acting in good faith.
VONAPPEN finally sued the UH board of regents Wednesday for breach of contract. VonAppen claims that Mortimer's attempt to reassign him to a nonfootball position within the Honolulu Community College with cuts in benefit and salary violates the three-year contract he signed before the start of the 1998 season.
"Filing suit is something I never wanted to do, but the options they gave me left me no choice," he told the Star-Bulletin. "I just want to get this thing resolved and move forward."
Mortimer claims there has been no breach of contract and feels the university will be upheld on that issue in court.
Who's right and who's wrong?
It'll take the First Circuit Court to decide the outcome. But no matter the decision, UH is the ultimate loser.
The length of time it is taking to settle this dispute with vonAppen is an embarrassment for the university.
It is the bad guy in this scenario for seemingly reneging on its contract. VonAppen shouldn't have had to file suit. And if he didn't have many sympathizers before, he's gaining a few along the way as the stalemate drags on.
THE impasse also isn't being fair to incoming football coach June Jones. Here he is, trying to sell tickets and trying to build up enthusiasm for the coming season, while at the same time there is this unresolved problem involving the outgoing coach. It doesn't make for a healthy work environment, that's for sure.
Also, it surely can't give Jones much comfort, knowing that if he fails to deliver a winner in football, there might be a community college job waiting for him as well. He and all the other UH coaches might want to read the fine print in their contracts from now on.
The best solution?
Mortimer should realize that vonAppen isn't going to go away without his money. He's got too much at stake to fold 'em now.
So the university should stop keeping vonAppen hanging and just buy out the final two years of his contract at the cost of about $260,000. It did it for Bob Wagner, it can do it for Fred vonAppen. Make a clean break, and get on with it.
Only then will the university finally find a closure to the vonAppen years of Rainbow football.