|
Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Putting the ‘aloha’
back in the stadiumTHESE days it's become kind of the in thing to talk about how bad everything is at Aloha Stadium. What a terrible experience it is to go there for Hawaii football games.
Is it really? I don't know. I have a press pass, which lets me cut in line a little, into the security gate, onto the elevator, opting out of some of the regular headaches.
And I was, for some of the people who work at the stadium anyway, one of the few people on the "right" side of the whole Fieldturf mess. So at least until the next article, I'm OK with them.
(Of course, thanks to those columns many of the otherwise wonderful people on the other side of the debate wouldn't have minded seeing my name linked with the phrase "unfortunate bulldozer accident.")
We sports media sit in traffic, we get our bags searched, just like you. And that's no fun. But other than the lady ready to go "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" over my desire to get back to the press box via the field at this year's Pro Bowl, I simply haven't seen any of the personal unpleasantness that many fans are more than willing to tell you about.
Still, the stories add up. Without getting into a lot of he said-she said, if nothing else, Aloha Stadium seems to have a public relations problem, and it shouldn't take that lightly. But let's keep a few things in mind:
>> Nothing's perfect, and nothing ever was. I'm sure we've all heard TV guy Jim Leahey spin tales of the grouchy ticket takers at old Honolulu Stadium who were abusive and rude. Today, those were the golden years, and it's become a funny, heartwarming story. (I love that story -- "Eh, you stupid o' wot? Wrong gate, you!")
>> There has been a traffic jam to get into (or close to) every major college or pro football stadium I've been in. Didn't matter the team. Didn't matter the plan. If it's game day, it's rush hour.
>> When you stand in line to let someone search your belongings, you're generally left with a negative impression of the place, even if they do their best to be nice about it. (Count me among those who find nothing patriotic about "assuming the position.")
>> The "colored jacket theory." When there is a group of people in colored jackets, it's not surprising to find one person among them who takes special pleasure in telling you to sit down, stand up, move, drop and give me 20, etc., and often without a "please" or an understanding smile. Most are fine human beings just doing difficult jobs. But yes, sometimes you will encounter the one guy who takes his 15 minutes as an authority figure a little too seriously. But that's life. And again, that's everywhere, every era.
Bottom line, the stadium (and UH) should know there is dissatisfaction out there, and work to address it. But when you can just as well stay home and watch the games on TV, excuses for not showing up in person are easy to find.
Many grievances I've heard sound valid. Others are simply (unfortunately) the modern sports experience, stuff you'd find anywhere. And some just sound like stadium bashing is the latest fad.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com