IT'S one anniversary I'd rather forget. It was four years ago this Thursday that University of Hawaii athletic director Stan Sheriff passed away. UH should honor Sheriff
once and for allSheriff was returning from the NCAA Convention in Dallas when he suffered a fatal heart attack at Honolulu International Airport. News of his death reached the Blaisdell Arena later that evening where the Fabulous Five were having a fabulous reunion, celebrating the UH basketball success two decades earlier.
One question that begs for an answer: Will it take two decades before the Special Events Arena is named for Sheriff? Say it won't be so.
Sheriff was the driving force behind building the 10,225-seat arena. He was a visionary, wanting a 20,000-seat venue to showcase the university - and not just its athletics.
When others said 4,000 would be big enough, Sheriff dropped his shoulder and took a similar stance to the one that won him Little All-America honors as a center at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. He continued to block the suggestions for a smaller arena, holding the line at no smaller than 10,000.
His trademark stubbornness has served UH well even to this day. More than 300,000 fans came to watch men's and women's volleyball in 1996 alone, to watch first-class programs that were just waiting for a first-class arena to blow the dome off NCAA national attendance figures.
Where would the UH athletic department be without the $500,000 surplus generated from the Wahine volleyball program this past season? Sheriff knew that, if they built it, the fans would come.
Would there currently be a multi-million dollar bidding war between local television stations to carry the rights to Rainbow sports? Sheriff pioneered the first TV contract to give state-wide exposure to UH athletics.
What about the "Hawaii Exemption" allowing basketball teams to play here every four years without it counting against the season's maximum? Or the 12th football game every season that helped keep the athletic program afloat while programs at mainland institutions were sinking.
SHERIFF literally gave his life to making all of these happen. I spoke with him the night before his death, waking him from a nap.
I was surprised to find him in his room at an early hour, knowing his propensity to shake every hand at the convention that might someday extend a vote in Hawaii's favor. Sheriff was the master at navigating the good ol' boy network, while blazing new trails toward UH's future.
I still feel guilty about waking him just to ask how things had gone at the convention. He sounded tired but satisfied that some of his "pets" - the exemptions and 12th game - had not been given lethal injections by the NCAA voters.
And, no, he probably wouldn't make it to the Fabulous Five reunion the next day. He was tired . . . but then again, maybe he would. He so enjoyed a good game.
If anyone should be feeling guilty this week, it's the members of the UH Board of Regents. They have the sole authority to name university facilities, and name them after people dead or alive.
It's ironic that one of the biggest supporters of Rainbow men's basketball is retired state supreme court chief justice William S. Richardson. He's alive to enjoy having the UH Law School named after him, as well as enjoy the arena Sheriff fought for.
The university owes Sheriff more than it can ever repay. What a little price to give the arena - his dream - his name.
One of the conditions set by the City Council in approving the arena modification plans was to name it after the late athletic director. Nearly four years later, the Regents continue to not honor the council's stipulation.
Sheriff was right. The facility should have been 20,000 seats.
The Regents can make up for that by naming it Sheriff Arena.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.