UH’s Rainbow connection began with magical game

New University of Hawaii athletic director Ben Jay has decided that, beginning in June, the men’s athletic teams will be called Warriors. The women’s teams will be Rainbow Wahine.

Personally, I’m a little miffed. The Rainbow nickname goes back 90 years. That’s a long time. Let’s look at how we came by that nickname and what the teams were called before that.

For their first 14 years, the nickname of the University of Hawaii sports teams was the Fighting Deans. No one seems to remember where that came from. It might be because faculty played on the first teams.

The University of Hawaii began as the College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts in 1907.

For its first five years, while the Manoa campus was being built, the college had temporary quarters across from Thomas Square on Victoria, Young and Beretania Streets. A plaque on a boulder inside the hedge on Beretania Street marks its original location.

Sharing the space on the same property was McKinley High School. The building that now houses the Hono­lulu Museum of Art School was built for McKinley, which didn’t move into its current campus until 1923.

In 1909 the Fighting Deans played their first football game — against McKinley High School. They won 6-5 before a crowd of 2,500 at Punahou School.

It sounds crazy, but UH didn’t play against another college until 1920, when it lost to the University of Nevada. UH didn’t have an all-college schedule until 1966. Besides high schools, UH played military, clubs and other adult teams.

Coach Otto "Proc" Klum took over as UH coach in 1921. His Fighting Deans had their first winning season the following year, which included their first win against another college, Cal Poly Pomona.

For his prowess as a coach, Klum was given the nickname "Manoa Fox." Klum Gym was named for him 30 years later in 1956, and one source says it was called "the Madison Square Garden of the Pacific" when it opened.

On Jan. 1, 1923, Oregon State University traveled to Hawaii for a game at Moiliili Field. Late in the fourth quarter, the score was tied 0-0 when a rainbow appeared over the grounds. UH soon scored, and the sports writers began calling the team the "Rainbows." Fans believed we would win if a rainbow appeared.

Other UH teams have had similar experiences. Maui Diver’s Cole Slater recalls a sailing race 15 years ago on a lake in Santa Barbara. "The UH women’s team had gotten off to a slow start in some stormy weather and were not doing as well as usual.

"In the last leg of the race, the bad weather began to clear and a rainbow spanned the course. The winds shifted, which gave a huge advantage to the UH team, and they won the race."

Assistant UH sailing coach Jesse Andrews also remembers several instances where UH victories were associated with rainbows.

In recent years some teams have used Rainbows, others Warriors and some a combination of the two.

KHON2 newscaster Joe Moore was not happy when football coach June Jones dropped Rainbows in 2000.

"Since former coach June Jones took it upon himself to drop ‘Rainbow’ from the name Rainbow Warriors, I have not liked the change. When I expressed my opinion on the air, Jones phoned me and said he couldn’t recruit the quality players he needed if they were called Rainbows.

"When I asked why, he said, ‘Because they don’t think it’s manly or tough enough.’

"When I asked if he didn’t consider it part of his job to enlighten his recruits about the uniqueness and significance of the rainbow in the school’s history and Hawaiian culture, he said, ‘Good luck with that.’

"As a UH fan since high school," Moore continues, "they’ll always be the ‘Bows, no matter what one coach or athletic director has proclaimed is the official name."

———
Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.