It’s been 10 years, but the University of Hawaii athletics identity crisis continues.

OK, maybe this isn’t up there with missiles pointing at Miami, or your sudden urge to buy a red convertible to go with your new AARP card.

And, after recent events in Reno, Nev., and Las Cruces, N.M., who cares what anyone calls the UH football team, now that they can call themselves WAC champions?

But, that’s the thing … a lot of people still do care — although the number is diminishing.

Rainbows. Warriors. Rainbow Warriors.

Fighting Deans?

Forget about it for football. It’s Warriors forever. The chance to protest that was in 2000, but that was when "June Jones for Governor" shirts were all the rage and he successfully got the "Rainbow" dropped from "Warriors." After the 1999 turnaround, JJ could have dictated it illegal to play golf while wearing shoes, and the entire state would’ve gone along with it. Hyp-no-tized.

That didn’t stop people from eventually complaining, though, and some still do. But if you truly want to Save A Rainbow, put basketball at the top of your endangered species list.

New coach Gib Arnold’s version of Hawaii 5-0 doesn’t feature any local stars, either. But UH has played a plucky brand of ball so far, dispatching a quintet of undersized clubs visiting the Stan Sheriff Center. We won’t know how good a team this is until it starts playing some people its own size, and on the road (and that begins with a two-game road trip this week, featuring a visit to BYU).

We bring up UH hoops because this is a team that used to be known almost exclusively as the Rainbows. But a gradual shift toward Warriors is under way.

Arnold described his squad as "playing Warrior basketball" after UH put on an extended show of outstanding defensive work.

Then the team wore all black, with "WARRIORS" across the front of the shirts. That game started at 11 p.m. here, and they looked very snazzy for insomniacs across the country watching on ESPN. That was three weeks ago, and my sleep pattern is still messed up.

Arnold said he’s OK with whatever the athletic department wants when it comes to nicknames, and he likes the flexibility of different length names to go with different uniforms.

Well, like we asked about football … who cares if they keep winning?

And again, lots of people — including recruits.

Think of yourself as a 17-year-old being courted by colleges. Would you rather be a Rainbow or a Warrior? That’s a great deal, to be a Warrior, but playing sports instead of enlisting in the military. A Rainbow? For someone with the world view to embrace it as a symbol of building strength through acceptance of differences — oh yeah, maybe you can sell him. Unfortunately, most of those rare teens aren’t big-time sports prospects.

Remember Matt Apana? UH baseball pitcher, a pretty good one. Now he’s an account executive for the radio station with the rights to UH sports, the one that is technically called KKEA but markets itself as ESPN (names change all the time, even those of newspapers, such as this one). So he has an understanding of this kind of stuff.

"When you’re dealing with clients, you’re trying to make sure you’re in sync with the athletic department, but it can get confusing," he said. "It’s trendy. You want a product that will continue to sell and draw interest. People change logos and names. It comes down to dollars. For smaller schools, change is good. You’ve got to be creative and brand your name. When June came in I think we were looking for change.

"June changed the culture. When you change the culture, you change tradition."

And that doesn’t always sit well with everyone, including Apana at times.

"As a player, you remember your roots," he said. "I’m still a Rainbow at heart. Athletes coming in now are going to be Warriors at heart. But we still all represent the University of Hawaii."

May the RAIN-BOWS cheer never die.

But as time marches on and without an organized and powerful protest by traditionalists — of the kind they failed to mount 10 years ago — ‘Bows will eventually go the way of Deans.