It is still another week before the first football game of the year at Aloha Stadium, but that doesn't mean football hasn't been played there.

For when it comes to Aloha Stadium, history tells us political football is always in season.

The past week has put a renewed political focus on a Halawa facility that rarely strays far from it. One day after Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and Interim University of Hawai'i President David McClain announced plans to ban alcohol sales at the stadium, Gov. Linda Lingle branded as unprofessional some of the management practices there and told the Pacific Business News "the stadium authority has a perceived reputation that who you know depends on how you're treated at the stadium."

Not to be missed is that this flexing of muscle comes immediately after Lingle's appearance at an authority meeting, one where her six appointees now constitute the first Republican majority of the nine-member authority in the stadium's 30-year history.

With a Lingle campaign supporter, Kenneth Lum, as deputy stadium manager, and Kevin Chong Kee, who has been second vice chairman of the Hawai'i Republican Party, as chairman of the stadium authority, the grip is tight and mandate is what they want to make it.

Now we'll see, with these and other new initiatives, what the Republicans, with the keys firmly in hand, will be able to do with the state's premier sports venue.

Will the administration succeed in giving UH its first rent relief? Will they be able to bring new business and increased revenue to a stadium that sits dark half the year? Will it become a more fan-friendly facility?

Almost since the first girders were swung into place, Aloha Stadium has been a political plum for the party in power. Whether it is a place on the stadium authority, with free tickets and prime parking, or one of the privileged 58 seats in the baseball press box during UH football games, the stadium and state politics have never been far apart. People have come to the stadium manager's job direct from politics or returned there from the stadium's front office.

Indeed, during a 1992 procurement scandal that led to longtime Democratic politician Ken Kiyabu's resignation as stadium manager, a Republican Party official claimed, "it is quite obvious that the Democrats cannot get the job done" (there).

Now, the more immediate question is what does the new political reality hold for the current stadium manager, Eddie Hayashi, a veteran Democratic loyalist? Hayashi, going on 11 years as manager — and 25 years there in some capacity — has held the top job longer than anyone. Never more tenuously, it would seem.

While a Lingle spokesman said yesterday, "any decision(s) relating to management changes at the stadium are up to the stadium authority," given the history of the place, it might be foolish for Hayashi to presume any long-term plans.

Hayashi was at the center of a political storm six years ago when he searched the office of then-flea market operator Edward Medeiros looking for pro-Lingle campaign literature and bumper stickers during her unsuccessful bid to unseat Gov. Ben Cayetano. When Medeiros subsequently lost the stadium contract of 20 years, he claimed his open support of Lingle cost him the deal, a charge denied by the administration.

For the moment, the Lingle administration is pushing an end to alcohol sales to bring back families turned away by the rowdiness of the recent past. It is also demanding a more thorough oversight, detailing a cabinet member to attend authority meetings. And it is promising equitable access for those who want to do business.

After 30 years of waiting, the Republicans have the ball at Aloha Stadium now. A place where the political football season never ends.