Opener had lack of fanfare
| • | UH receiver's playing status undetermined |
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
A phone rings ...
Hello, HPD Missing Persons Detail, may I help you?
I sure hope so. I mean...
Whoa, just slow down, sir, and tell me who is missing.
Well, officer, I don't know quite how to put this but I'm missing hundreds, potentially thousands, of people.
Are you one of those body snatcher theorists? Or, just the guy who runs the bus company that's caught up in the strike?
No, I'm the University of Hawai'i athletic director.
Herman Frazier?
Yup.
Well, who was missing, besides your quarterback, Tim Chang?
We played Appalachian State Saturday night and had the smallest crowd (36,844 through the turnstiles) in all of head coach June Jones' Aloha Stadium season openers.
But didn't your team just go 10-4 last year and set a bunch of records?
Yes, and 9-3 the season before that, too, and, still, the number of people going through the turnstiles keeps dropping. At this rate, we could go 14-0 and be performing before fewer people than the guy who demonstrates vegetable slicers at Costco.
I've seen that Southern California team on TV, so I'd stop dreaming about that unbeaten season if I were you, Mr. Frazier.
You don't know the half of it, officer. We gave away thousands of tickets for the game to the military and, still, the crowd was down. From the looks of their parking lot, the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange out-drew us.
I see your point.
The worst part is that our team needs the fans, the more and the louder the better. You know how a crowd can lift a team. We didn't need 'em much against a I-AA team like Appalachian State — though we sure could have used a spark in that snoozer of a second quarter — but what happens when we play somebody our own size?
Can't your marketing department do something?
Well, maybe, if we had one. But we canceled the Steinberg deal three months ago and haven't brought in anybody new yet.
How about a better opponent?
Look, I'm tired of taking heat for getting Appalachian State after I turned down Iowa State, OK. And, anyway, three years ago there was a sellout for Portland State.
But don't you make it up on pay-per-view sales?
Some, but what would you rather do? Keep all the money from a family of four that pays $75 in tickets to go to the game or keep a share of the $25 — after it is divided with our other partners — from somebody who stays home and invites the whole neighborhood to watch? Hey, I've got coaches to pay.
Maybe it is the stadium, bus strike or the traffic.
Nah, I've never seen the stadium people more friendly or more private buses. And the traffic, except for a knot or two on Salt Lake Boulevard, the traffic between 4 and 5 p.m. flowed like Ross Dickerson's kickoff return.
Well, look at it this way Mr. Frazier, if the crowds continue to drop, at least you'll have solved the traffic problem.
Contact Ferd Lewis at 525-8044 or flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.
