LAST fall, former University of Hawaii assistant coach Trent Miles sent school president Kenneth Mortimer a letter asking if Mortimer could spend some time with the Rainbows football team. Fans, alumni need
to help UH athleticsIn Miles' mind, the president was not playing an active enough role in an athletic department he likened to a rudderless ship. In fact, Miles said not one player would recognize the president if he passed him on the street because he had never taken the time to attend a single practice.
Mortimer didn't take the suggestion personally, unlike some people in the athletic department. Instead, he realized it might not be a bad idea for the student-athletes to view him as an approachable administrator.
He took some time out of his busy schedule to attend a spring practice last April, and followed it up on Wednesday with a brief meeting with the players at Barbers Point.
Granted, he didn't say anything earthshaking, or tell the players he was rolling over head coach Fred vonAppen's contract as soon as he got back to the office.
But he did send a message that not only had he heard the outcries of vonAppen and his staff that the program needed a major overhaul to stay afloat in the Western Athletic Conference. He also had acted on it to some degree by agreeing to upgrade the facilities, by setting aside money to hire a fund-raiser and taking another look before slicing nearly a half-million dollars from the 1997-98 athletic budget.
The players listened politely to his remarks. They didn't carry him off the field shoulder-high, but they didn't use him as a tackling dummy, either. Which, considering the recent course of events concerning administrators and coaches, might be considered a moral victory.
"I was telling Fred that I like doing these things," Mortimer said. "It's important to be around and to get a feel for what's hap-pening from their perspective."
Not exactly ground-breaking testimony, but for a president who kept his hands off the athletic department for far too long, it's a step in the right direction.
FOR better or worse, Hugh Yoshida is Hawaii's athletic director, but real leadership begins at the top. Mortimer needs to keep pushing the envelope, not only with the power people at the Capitol, but with members of the private sector as well.
"We've got a quality program," Mortimer said. "We have minimum problems with bad kids. Our graduation rates are good, and I appreciate what Coach vonAppen and his staff have done to raise the academic numbers of his team.
"I think, however, as we move forward into the coming years, the people of the state will come to appreciate that more. We're going to be asking them for more support. And we're going to expect that we earned it because we do have a very bright future in intercollegiate athletics."
How bright depends on a variety of delicate moves. Yes, there have been some improvements, but there's much more to be done.
SOMETIMES, the tendency in Hawaii is to sit back and say, "See what we've done," then take another 10 years before making the next move.
The time to sit back and contemplate things is over. If the powers that be are interested in Hawaii's football program reaching a higher level, they need to forget about paying lip service and start putting their money where their mouth is.
In these tough economic times, the state and the business sector can only do so much. It's ultimately up to the football fans and former students to donate some of their hard-earned dollars to this worthy cause.
VonAppen issued some long overdue ground rules. Mortimer finally listened to his cries for help. Where will it take them in the years to come? Hopefully, in the right direction before meetings with the football team are a thing of the past.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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