Rain, security tests football fans

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Heavy rain and new security rules during last night's University of Hawai'i football game dampened a little of that patriotic spirit that has been seizing Islanders in recent weeks.

A few people brought flags into the stadium and tried to hold them aloft as the National Anthem was sung, but the rain added to their weight. Under the downpour, a group of people directly across from the scoreboard looked hard-pressed to hold their flag above the seat backs in front of them.

Paper flags handed out in the parking lots bearing the slogan "United We Stand" dissolved in the hands of fans who carried them, particularly those fans without umbrellas who unthinkingly held the newspaper-sized pieces of paper over their heads as the rain peppered down.

"Wave them?" said Lillian Leeds, a Houston resident and Rice fan as she and her husband looked at what was left of their paper flags. "Well, we'll try."

Some fans tried hard to hold on to the patriotic spirit that has been holding the country together since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. But the attitude was sorely challenged as they encountered new security measures at the gates.

"I changed from my backpack to my purse because you said no backpacks," Betty Joao, longtime fan and Makaha resident, said to the ushers and security guards at Gate 5 as they shook their heads at her oversized handbag. "We saw that in the paper."

"And now," she said, her voice changing pitch as she worked to control her emotions, "You are telling me that a 12-inch by 18-inch bag is the limit?"

Large umbrellas that didn't fold down to compact parcels were also prohibited, a rule that grew less popular as the rain grew heavier.

"This is ridiculous," Dana Gibo said as she and her husband were turned back. "We've been season ticket holders for 12 years now!"

"It ain't worth it," one usher said under his breath as the protests continued. "This is a $7 an hour job."

Several of the ushers said the rules, which had seemed clear-cut at the beginning, would need to be more tightly defined before the next game. Inconsistencies from gate to gate and line to line led to even hotter tempers and more difficult situations.

Some fans returned to the gates as the game began, protesting that they had seen bags or umbrellas in the stands that were larger than those that they were told to leave at the gate or take back to their cars.

"We're learning," usher Thomas Silva said last night. "And they're learning. But it was pretty bad, right from the start."

"Call the stadium during business hours next week and talk to management," a woman in the information office said when asked exactly what size bags and umbrellas were prohibited. "I think there have been conflicting specifications."

The woman asked that her name not be used.

"I need this job," she said.

But a few fans did seem to make it through the gates with patriotism intact.

Helene Holt was calm and comfortable with her flag-colored poncho.

"I just hope their (Rice's) colors aren't red, white and blue," she said.

And Sailor Scott Ferdinando from New Jersey didn't need an umbrella, as he entered the stadium shirtless and wearing a horned hat with American flags flying from each horn.

"Hey America," Ferdinando yelled. "Love ya baby!"