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The Way I See It
I never did find out who let the dogs out, despite a full season of covering the Wahine volleyball team at the Stan Sheriff Center. Where was the
Wahine’s support
in Virginia?But there's one question I think should be answered:
How can you send a team to a NCAA final four without a band, cheerleaders, a mascot or any other kind of spirit support?
To send a team that so many of Hawaii's people care so passionately about all the way to freezing Virginia with no such backing would lead some observers to conclude that ... well, no one cares about this team.
It looked even worse because the three other programs had their music blaring, cheerleaders performing and mascots cavorting for the cameras in this nationally televised tournament.
A guy sitting next to me in press row shook his head when I pointed out that the Wahine were there on their own.
The Wahine are second only to Warriors football at the turnstile in Hawaii. They have a heritage of three NCAA titles and one AIAW title.
They have legions of popular support and their players can't walk down the street without being recognized.
They have a coach whose winning percentage is one of the all-time best in the history of the collegiate sport.
Yes, the school did get Virginia Commonwealth to lend its band to the Wahine. But you couldn't expect those musicians to play the way the Hawaii band does, or provide the Wahine with a feeling of aloha. When the Wahine heard a very soft and tentative version of "Hawaii Five-0" during warmups, they knew just how far from home they were in facing No. 1 Nebraska.
I asked two band directors present how important they are to their teams.
"We're a little bit of home court advantage," said USC's director.
"Our coach even holds us responsible for wins and losses," said the Wisconsin director.
Meanwhile, Nebraska -- a football-driven program in which you couldn't expect the administration to give a kernel about an unbeaten volleyball team -- sent the works.
Despite being snowed in and delayed, the Huskers arrived with their 10-foot 'Lil Red mascot, cheerleaders and a band that got to play the national anthem for Hawaii's match. The Big Red band did a nice job of belting out rousing Husker home court numbers throughout a match that started out badly for Hawaii.
THERE was no appreciable response from the Wahine's substitute band. Hey, did anyone expect those Virginians to care the way the real Hawaii band would have?
I know the Rainbow band traveled with the men's and women's basketball teams to the NCAA tournaments, and with the football team to the Holiday Bowl. But the NCAA also partially subsidized those trips.
I heard there was talk of at least sending to Virginia the guy who bangs the drums before football games. He's not my favorite, but he certainly would have gotten everyone's attention, and he would have provided an extra adrenaline rush for the Wahine when they needed to feel they weren't alone.
Assistant athletic director Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano said the cost of sending support would have been highly prohibitive. I don't doubt that.
But I think that if the other universities, which also faced considerable travel costs to reach Richmond, were able to send so much firepower for their teams' morale, Hawaii darned well should have found a way, too.
Pat Bigold has covered sports for daily newspapers
in Hawaii and Massachusetts since 1978.
Email Pat: pbigold@starbulletin.com