Our beat writer, Stephen Tsai, is referring to these as the good old days. A very ominous warning for what might lie ahead for UH. We still have Division 1 football. We still have a place to play football. We still have the Hawaii Bowl. We are still part of the Mountain West. But for how long?
Stephen teased this article a couple days ago with a post on Facebook. He doubled down with an article in the Star Advertiser today called, "As Glum As It Looks Now, This Might Be As Good As It Gets For UH" link to article below.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2023/10/10/sports/stephen-tsai-as-glum-as-it-looks-now-this-might-be-as-good-as-it-gets-for-uh/
Why should we care? UH doesn't. Not enough to hire a coach with enough experience to guide the program through the mess that Todd Graham left. The same program that trots out the same men's basketball coach that wins a game in the Big West Tournament, once every couple of years. If we're lucky.
Time to beat a dead horse. Football doesn't work here without tailgating. I don't care what mid level reggae act you get to perform at the Les an hour before the game. Ever walk through the parking lot of Aloha Stadium prior to kickoff? The smells and food was nothing short of amazing. For many, the tailgate was more important than the game itself. Food, family and football are synonymous here in Hawaii. Trying to put on a football game without tailgating is a non starter for many in this fanbase. Or what's left of it.
A "No Tailgating" sign greets you as you enter the parking garage at the athletic complex. There is absolutely no energy or enthusiasm as you enter the stadium prior to kickoff. None. It's like a morgue. Seriously. People aren't warmed up without tailgating. They're cold. Timmy's offense hasn't helped, but that's beside the point. He didn't get to pick his offensive coordinator, but that's another story.
The 9,000 or so fans left at TC Ching on gamedays are the diehards. But I feel like once UH is eliminated from bowl contention, there will be lots of offers from family and friends if you would like tickets to the UH game this weekend. The players deserve to play infront of a capacity and rowdy crowd. PPV should only be available once a bare minimum of seats (80% capacity) is sold. PPV keeps us as second class citizens in the MWC. The model needs to be studied and modified to drive more people to the event, by those in charge. Speaking of which...
Hiring an athletic director with practically no ties to the program doesn't help. Hawaii is unique, and unlike any other place in the country, or world for that matter. Has Craig eaten a spam musubi yet? I doubt it. I don't trust him yet. He needs to earn my trust. Which will take time. He needs to show me that he will make good decisions for the program, and not run off to the next job that's comparable on the mainland. He's got a tough job.
Good luck getting teams to sign on the dotted line for games to fill out pukas on the football schedule going forward. Having the visiting team get ready on a folding chair outside the baseball concourse is embarrassing. Losing Aloha Stadium has struck at the very legitimacy of our program. We went from one of the best teams attendance wise in the MWC, to the very bottom of the conference. If not all of D1.
Will the New Aloha Stadium get completed by 2028, if ever? I have serious doubts. Do we even need it considering where the football team is at right now? Probably not. The longer the can gets kicked down the road on a plan for this new building, the less likely it is that it gets built. Just my opinion.
We are in the midst of realignment in college football. Football, tv sets and money are causing a seismic shift in the college football and collegiant athletics landscape. UH looks and feels like an FCS program at this point in time. We offer little to justify continuing in the Mountain West if TC Ching is where our team continues to play. It's not a division 1 facility.
UH is important to the state. People support it. From the couches of their living rooms watching pay-per-view, to the people wearing their Sugar Bowl shirts at Don Quijote. Just not enough are showing up at TC Ching to justify a new stadium or continuing as a D1 program.
I'd tell you to come out and join my friends and myself in supporting this program. But I sit in a section where we can't use the stairs 5 feet in front of us, because it's reserved for 14 people at the top with purple wristbands. We have to cut across a whole section to get to our seats in the corner of the stadium. Humbug. It sucks.
My friend and his girlfriend won't be joining us this weekend, because the usher told him to sit down with a couple of minutes left in a tied game, the last time UH played at home. Long time UH supporters. That ain't D1. It's bush league. How you going to alienate and frustrate what little supporters you have left? A lifetime fan questioning if he will renew his tickets next season. Auwe.
I'm hoping for a couple of first downs on our first offensive drive against San Diego State. I'm also hoping the score isn't 3-20 by the time halftime rolls around against those Aztecs. Come, don't come. Whatever. I don't see how UH rights itself from this death spiral the football and athletics department finds itself in. If you think everything is hunky dory, then continue living in that reality. Call me a hater, a fake fan. I honestly don't care. I've been following this program for well over 40 years. This is what I see.
Stephen says these are the good old days of the athletics department. I disagree. I'm old enough to remember the raucous crowds of 44,000+ in the late 80s at Aloha Stadium. Our Sugar Bowl run in '07. Those magnificent games against BYU. Riley's scrappy b-ball teams that willed themselves to victory in the WAC Tournament in March. As long as UH favors control over hiring the best people for the job, this university is doomed. It aspires to be nothing more than mediocre. That's a death sentence in itself. JMO
You need more than a good volleyball program to pay the bills at the D1 level. Football and basketball buoy a healthy athletics department. I'll be here to watch whatever happens in the next 3-5 years. Even if the people this university picks won't be.
Is there a cure for what ails this program? Tailgating would be a huge step in the right direction. Transparency in hires and accountability would help to establish trust and a better connection with this beleaguered fan base. In the movie, "Field of Dreams", Ray heard the voice that said, "Build it and they will come". I'm not sure that even a new Aloha Stadium is enough to save UH from its own demise. I guess we will find out. I'll watch it all go down from Section 151, Big City Diner, or the SSC, because I don't do PPV.
Go Bows!
Be Warriors!
