By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
TULSA, Okla. — The University of Hawai‘i men’s basketball team was a fitting 8-8 in the Western Athletic Conference this season.
The Rainbows played like the WAC’s best team at home, and its worst on the road. How do we know? Because through it all, The Advertiser was there.
Just like the Rainbows, we experienced the daylong travel itineraries. In true Hawai‘i fashion, we endured the cold weather and grudgingly wore long pants. The team may have struggled with the "thin air" of elevated cities, but we fought through it to write our stories on time.
So trust us when we say lucky you live Hawai‘i as we present this year's edition of "The WACkys" — the best and worst of the Western Athletic Conference.
 Best arena: Tulsa. The Reynolds Center has lots of available parking right next to the arena, and once inside, there's not a bad seat in the house. It also has the best Jumbotron scoreboard in the conference.
Worst arena: Rice. The antiquated Autry Court has lots of available parking right next to the arena, but that's because the place seats less than 5,000. Even on game days, the court is partitioned by a huge curtain so other events — like fencing and aerobics classes — can occur within the arena at the same time.
Best fans: Tulsa. The 4,000 or so who showed up for every Hawai‘i game were great, but until they can get another 4,000 of their friends to join them, they're no match for the "Reynolds Rowdies."
Worst fans: San Jose State. The few who show up at The Event Center (only 1,041 were at the UH game) can be outright rude. One fan heckled a Special Olympics athlete at halftime.
Best cheerleaders and dancers: Hawai‘i. You can’t appreciate how athletic and inspiring the Rainbow cheerleaders and dancers are until you've seen how unathletic and uninspiring some of the other squads are.
Worst cheerleaders and dancers: San Jose State. ‘Aiea High could put this squad to shame. Then again, the ‘Aiea cheerleaders probably perform in front of a bigger audience at its basketball games.
Best band: Texas-El Paso. They don’t only play instruments, they sing and dance. The band’s percussionist won a disco-dancing contest at halftime.
Worst band: Fresno State. During the game, they spent more time heckling the Rainbow players than playing music. After the game, they blared nonstop for 30 minutes right near the area where the media was conducting interviews.
Best introductions: Fresno State. Before the Bulldogs approach their bench area, they run around Selland Arena, high-fiving fans to ear-shattering music.
Worst introductions: Texas-El Paso. For starters, the public address announcer at the Don Haskins Center introduced Nerijus Puida as Carl English. Once the game started, he acted like he was announcing an NBA game. Only problem? He wasn't.
Best timeouts: Texas-El Paso. For the UH game, UTEP hired the Utah Jazz Bear, who performed those death-defying dunks normally reserved for Plays of the Week highlights.
Worst timeouts: San Jose State. Yes, that’s when they bring out the cheerleaders.
Best halftime: Nevada. During the Hawai‘i game, a Wolf Pack fan made a layup, free throw and half-court shot within a 20-second span to win a new Volvo car valued at $40,000. It was the best display of shooting all season.
Worst halftime: Rice. Two guys dressed up as fruits to promote a juice company. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, they danced to an *NSYNC song.
Best interviews: Fresno State. The Bulldogs may have irked the Rainbows with their trash talk, but quotes like "We want to embarrass them" and "We want to beat them by 50" are a reporter's dream.
Worst interviews: Nevada. Coach Trent Johnson always seems surly and unhappy. Then again, his team finished last.
Best media coverage: Fresno State. The Fresno Bee devotes almost two full pages of game coverage to the Bulldogs, and the local television stations do five-minute reports. Maybe that's what great quotes will get you.
Worst media coverage: Southern Methodist. The Dallas Morning News barely gave the Hawai‘i-SMU game a mention. Then again, the Mustangs were competing for coverage at the time with the NBA’s Mavericks, the NFL’s Cowboys and the NHL’s Stars. Makes sense.
Best arena food: Hawai‘i: The Stan Sheriff Center offers garlic fries, Hawaiian plates and Gordon Biersch beer on tap. As good as it gets.
Worst arena food: Rice. You have three choices. Hot dog, popcorn or a pickle. Yes, pickles. We never tried one, so we can’t confirm the rumor that the pickles are actually last year’s hot dogs.
Best city: Hawai‘i (Honolulu). Sun, sand, shopping and Sam Choy’s. Every other city in the WAC had temperatures below 60 degrees when the Rainbows visited.
Worst city: Texas Christian (Fort Worth). You can find great restaurants and tourist attractions in just about every city in the WAC. In Fort Worth, though, they’re few and far between.
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