Posted on: Sunday, June 27, 2004

UH's return to Omaha becoming tougher task

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Wes Kimura watches the College World Series now and shakes his head in amazement.

"I can't recognize the facilities anymore," said a man who once stood atop the Rosenblatt Stadium mound in Omaha for the University of Hawai'i. "Grandstands in the outfield now ... the scoreboard is different. The press box is different. They really expanded the place."

Indeed, the right-field, left-field and power-alley dimensions have changed since 1980. So, too has the height of the fence. The stadium's seating capacity has grown by nearly 10,000 since UH helped set the attendance mark at 15,276 in a loss to Arizona.

Watching Maui's Kurt Suzuki lead Cal State Fullerton to the championship series this year recalls a once-upon-a-time day when the Rainbows' magic moment captured a state's imagination. Next season will be the 25th anniversary of UH's march to Omaha, and you wonder when — or even if — the Rainbows might get back.

Up to now it has been mostly a matter of the Rainbows getting their baseball program back to a level it hasn't seen in 12 years or more, and then catching some luck. But now the fear is that by the time they do, their window of opportunity might have shrunk dramatically.

That quaint Omaha experience the Rainbows remember has become big business, its importance growing, its reach vastly expanding. In 1980, a small network began doing the games. Kimura recalls, "These guys, who said they were from ESPN, came over to interview some players before the Miami game and nobody knew who ESPN was."

Now, everybody does, and it has helped give CWS a huge profile and attractiveness. And, as with everything else worth being a part of in college athletics, the powers-that-be want more of it for themselves.

It isn't enough the so-called Bowl Championship Series conferences control football, basketball and most everything else. They want more CWS, too. The Southeastern Conference, which placed nine of its 12 teams in the 64-team field, accounted for half of the eight teams at the CWS.

Now, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney demands greater opportunity for his conference, which not only hasn't won a national baseball title in 40 years, it hasn't sent a team to Omaha in 20. His solution: mandatory starting dates and a much later CWS. Or else, said the Omaha World-Herald, the Big Ten might drop baseball.

As the BCS schools throw their weight around, it is the schools from non-power conferences, like UH, that lose out. Already, baseball is one of the few UH sports that the school can even dream about maybe, possibly, someday competing for an NCAA team title.

So baseball might want to hurry up, because pretty soon, UH could be down to volleyball — or nothing.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.