Posted on: Tuesday, November 26, 2002
EDITORIAL
No excuse for melee after football game
The free-for-all that ended Saturday's UH-Cincinnati football game at Aloha Stadium was far too serious to be papered over with a "boys will be boys" attitude.
Hawai'i coach June Jones downplayed the confrontation.
"It was unfortunate that it happened, but we scored one more point than they did, so that's all I care about at this point," Jones said.
That statement is telling. If managing his players' behavior on the field is not his job, then it's incumbent on the university to ensure that there's no confusion as to exactly whose job that is.
The disturbance went far beyond the football players, however, and it's certainly not Jones' job to police unruly fans who heaped abuse and hurled debris from the stands and on the sidelines.
Clearly UH must review who is allowed on the sidelines and what manner of beverages they're allowed to consume. You may think he's biased, but we believe it's up to UH to own up to the denunciation of Cincinnati athletic director Bob Goin: "In my 40-year career, it's the worst game management that I have ever seen. It was terrible, and the University of Hawai'i needs to clean it up."
UH's response to Goin's criticism falls short: "There are a lot of reasons that led up to (the incident)," said a spokeswoman. "I think the most important was that emotions were running high and that it was a close game and unfortunately those things happen when emotions run high."
If UH officials are surprised when emotions run high at a football game, then we are surrounded by rank incompetence. Of course they do, and UH needs a tried and tested means to contain situations before they fully develop.
We've noticed a steady drumbeat of letters from fans who are turned off and frightened by a drunken, rowdy element omnipresent at UH games. It's the reason that UH attendance declines even as the team's on-field performance grows more spectacular.
The review of this incident must come straight from UH President Dobelle, because there's no way UH is going to become a top-tier university with this lack of and class.
