By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Ordinarily, there might be as many people in and around the University of Hawai'i athletic department who follow the palace intrigue of the United States Olympic Committee as keep tabs on, say, Balkan politics.

But these days people around UH not only know who is at the top of the USOC, they are following the on-going soap opera with some interest.

Not because of any particular attachment for the dysfunctional USOC, you understand, but out of curiosity for how the tumultuous events might have a ripple effect upon athletic director Herman Frazier and UH.

Frazier, a member of the U.S. 4x400 gold medal relay team in the 1976 Olympic Games and two-term USOC vice president, remains, with UH President Evan Dobelle's blessing, much involved in USOC affairs.

Frazier was part of the site selection team that toured prospective U.S. candidate cities last fall, and has been involved in both an ethics investigation of CEO Lloyd Ward and yesterday's push for the resignation of president Marty Mankamyer.

In addition, the 48-year-old Frazier was just recommended for the position of U.S. Chef de Mission for the 2004 Athens Olympics, meaning, if approved, he would head the country's 800-plus member team for the Summer games.

Precisely because of these types of ties and the growing visibility that has accompanied them, there has been a "Herman Watch" on what happens at the USOC almost from the day Frazier signed on as AD at UH six months ago.

At one of his first press conferences at UH, Frazier was confronted with questions about whether he would make a run at the USOC presidency in 2004 or complete his three-year UH contract. Non-commitally, he said he'd take that up with Dobelle if the time ever came.

Indeed, Frazier has been thought of well enough in Olympic circles to be projected as a candidate for the 2004 presidency — if he chooses to run.

More recent events in which the USOC has gone through four top officials in four years and could be on the verge of ousting another one have thrust Frazier into a high profile role. He has been a voice in support of Ward, the embattled CEO. And he has been allied with the four other USOC officers and heads of athlete and sports groups pushing for Mankamyer's resignation.

The disgust with which many have come to view the goings-on have also revived talk of a need to bolster stability and confidence in the U.S. Olympic effort of having it headed by a former athlete, someone with a stake in seeing it run cleanly.

For the moment, Frazier insists "I am here to be here." He maintains that he has the job he wants and a run for a higher USOC position is, "definitely not on the radar screen."

In the meantime, against the backdrop of USOC follies, the "Herman Watch" goes on.