Posted on: Wednesday, June 4, 2003

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Yes, the Mountain West Conference has finally lifted its moratorium on expansion, but before dusting off those "Beat BYU" banners and checking stagecoach connections to Laramie, Wyo., there are some things to consider.

The first is that it would be a mistake for the University of Hawai'i — or its fans — to read too much into what the MWC did yesterday. Just because the MWC figures to expand in some form for the 2005 or 2006 season doesn't mean UH is guaranteed an invitation — or that it should automatically jump at one without doing the math and reading the fineprint.

The MWC's look at expansion isn't about mending fences or reuniting forgotten friends, much as we might want to read some of that into the situation. This isn't a move toward reconciliation or a recognition of UH's growth as much as a grab for the rest of the silverware the MWC dropped on the way out the back window five years ago.

Make no mistake about it, there is no more aloha for UH today than there was in May 1998, when the cabal of eight that came to make up the MWC plotted the breakaway from the Western Athletic Conference during a clandestine meeting at Denver International Airport.

Half of the presidents who engineered the seccession might be gone, but much of the avarice that guided them remains.

While regrouping in their Mountain time zone redoubt was to have solved all their financial problems and launched a bigger profile, it hasn't. Indeed, tax filings indicate four of the MWC schools lost money on football and three ran overall athletic department deficits for 2001-02, the last year for which figures are available. Nor has the MWC been accepted into the ranks of the big six Bowl Championship Series.

So, what the MWC is looking for here isn't a return to the good old days as much as new meal tickets that will either help get it a seat at the BCS poker game or assist in earning a more lucrative TV deal — better than the seven-year, $48 million agreement some feel the MWC hijacked in 1999.

Be assured if they decide that Hawai'i might help toward those ends, UH will be treated like the awkward legacy fraternity pledge they grudgingly accept. And there would be a hefty price of admission, such as a return to onerous travel subsidies and an entrance fee.

If their last dealings with the Gang of Eight have taught UH anything, it should be to forget any past feelings of collegiality and take a sharp pencil and critical eye to any proposal.

And, to keep its wallet tightly secured at all times.