Stan Sheriff Center was 'gift' to Hawai'i fans
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Ten years and a few million dollars and fans later, it can be said unequivocally that the best reason for building the Stan Sheriff Center was not that it is infinitely more comfortable than Klum Gym.
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Advertiser library photo
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| The University of Hawai'i's Special Events Arena as it looked during construction in February 1994, top, and as it appears today as the Stan Sheriff Center.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser |
No one knows the meaning of fan-friendly like the die-hard Klum fans — and their fannies — who have trekked across the Manoa quarry the past decade. The Sheriff Center has not only given the University of Hawai'i a first-class facility for its athletic programs to live up to, it has given Rainbow fans relief from the triple-digit heat and torturous bleachers of Klum.
Sheriff, the late former UH athletic director, did not get to see his dream rise from the Manoa dust. He passed away in January of 1993. The then-Special Events Arena opened to a soldout crowd on Oct. 21, 1994. It celebrates its 10th anniversary tonight when the third-ranked Rainbow Wahine play Rice in a crucial Western Athletic Conference volleyball match.
Ten years ago, Jane Sheriff told people that the arena was her late husband's "gift to the place and the people he loved."
Their youngest son Rich, the arena's manager since before it officially opened, has watched from within while it has been home to memories both sublime and ridiculous. He is pragmatic about what has been the arena's most compelling impact on UH.
"It has definitely allowed UH athletics to keep pushing toward the next level and being an elite intercollegiate athletic program," Rich Sheriff says. "Obviously on the revenue side, it's allowing athletics to increase revenue in sports generally not in the black. That's relieved quite a bit of financial strain."
Specifically, Hawai'i is the only college in the country to make money from volleyball. The men and women have led the country in attendance from the moment they bolted through the arena door.
The UH men cleared about $3,000 in 1995, then beat that by $400,000 the next season. The Rainbow Wahine brought in nearly $150,000 in their first full season in an arena that held more than 2,000. In 1996, they set the current NCAA record for attendance, averaging 8,378 per match. That year they cleared half a million.
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| The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team played the first event at the Stan Sheriff Center against San Jose State on Oct. 21, 1994. Tonight, the Rainbow Wahine play Rice on the center's 10th anniversary.
Advertiser library photo |
The Rainbow Wahine played seven matches in their new arena in 1994 and nearly tripled their attendance from the year before, to 4,036. Florida was second that season, 1,000 back — and the Gators did not charge admission. Last year, the Rainbow Wahine sold more season tickets (4,337) than second-place Nebraska averaged.
It all still blows the mind of Dave Shoji, now in his 30th year as Rainbow Wahine coach. He lobbied Stan Sheriff for a 4,000-seat arena for volleyball and women's basketball, with a second, larger arena for men's basketball and non-sporting events. He lost and, for the only time, was happy about it.
Ten years ago, when people packed what would become known affectionately as "The Stanley" on its opening night, he called it "a dream come true for women's volleyball."
"I had no idea that we could draw that well," Shoji recalled. "I was hoping we'd draw 3,000 or 4,000 and pack a smaller place and have tickets hard to come by."
Instead, the number of fans has multiplied along with the victories. The four arena teams have a combined winning percentage of .798 (592-150) in the "Big Manapua." Rainbow Wahine volleyball is 194-14 (.932).
Winning also makes the Stan Sheriff Center feel immensely comfortable. The man who finally got an arena built that had been discussed for 50 years left a legacy that will never be forgotten.
Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.
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1, 1997 1, 2000
RICH SHERIFF’S TOP 10 EVENTS AT SSC
(Rich Sheriff, youngest son of the late Stan Sheriff, has managed the arena since June 1994)
Rainbow men’s basketball upsets second-ranked Kansas, 76-65, in Rainbow Classic championship.
2, 1995
Top-ranked and unbeaten Rainbow Wahine volleyball loses to fifth-ranked Michigan State in NCAA Regional final after winning first two games (sellout).
3, 2002
Rainbow men’s basketball squeaks by Tulsa, 86-85, in White Out conditions (a sea of white shirts in the sellout crowd) to move into first place in the WAC.
4, 1994
The arena’s debut, featuring Rainbow Wahine volleyball against San Jose State and a tuxedo-clad Dave Shoji, sells out four days early.
5, 1998
Miss Universe Pageant televised live to 80 countries by ABC.
6, 1996
The entire Rainbow men’s volleyball season with “Yuval (Katz) and the boys,” which ended in the NCAA Championship final.
7, 2000
Rainbow Wahine volleyball cuts down nemesis Long Beach State in five-game NCAA Regional semifinal.
8, 2003
Rainbow Wahine volleyball, ranked second, beat fourth-ranked Stanford for the first time in 12 years, winning 16-14 in the fifth game.
9, 2000
Christina Aguilera sells out a month early in first SSC concert with an international recording artist.
10, 1997
Rainbow men’s basketball opens the season by spanking 21st-ranked Indiana, 82-65, before a sellout crowd. To add liquid insult to injury, the Hoosiers locker room floods and coach Bobby Knight dries — and cools — off by walking back to his Waikïkï hotel.
RICH SHERIFF’S BOTTOM 5
After Tennessee beat George Washington in the Rainbow Classic, an argument over post-game pizzas turns into a brawl complete with chair-swinging WWE antics.
2, 1995
At the SSC press conference announcing the firing of head UH football coach Bob Wagner, men’s basketball coach Riley Wallace challenges the administration. That prompts then-Associate Athletic Director Jim Donovan to respond, “Shall we make it a two-for-one deal?”
3, 2002
During introductions at the soldout Rainbow Wahine-Stanford volleyball match, entertainer Don Ho is brought out, which leads to an obviously impromptu rendition of Tiny Bubbles prior to the national anthem.
4, 1998
A marketing idea to hand out 2,000 mini basketballs at a men’s game turns weird. Worried that the balls would be thrown on the court, it is decided to give them to the first 2,000 fans to leave. When the promotion is announced during the game against 17th-ranked New Mexico, a large percentage of the crowd goes, despite the outcome still being in doubt. FYI: Hawai‘i won, 72-68.
5, 2000
At the U.S. Olympic Basketball teams’ doubleheader, the French national anthem accidentally is played (in place of “O Canada”) prior to the U.S.-Canada game.
